Family
by IHaveNargles
Summary: Aki Haru has the ability to see and communicate with ghosts and she's struggled her whole life with it. She had no friends and her parents and brother are resentful towards her. She has no one... Or so she thinks. When she and her family move back to Japan, Aki meets SPR and discovers that maybe she wasn't alone after all.
1. Prologue

Prologue

My name is Aki Haru. I'm a 1st year and today is my first day of school. Well, I'm starting in the middle of the year, but I've heard from my friend Michiru that things are pretty exciting around there. She said something about ghost stories or a haunting or something like that. You see, I love that kind of stuff, but I always freak out my parents and brother with it. But oh well, Michiru and I met at a concert a couple years ago and we've been sending each other emails ever since. She's really become a great friend. She always talks about her friend Mai who works for Shibuya Psychic Research. I've heard they get good results, so I was hoping I could get a job there. But I bet there isn't another job opening. I mean, sure I can see and talk to spirits, but I can't exorcise them away. "Aki, we're going to be late for school if we don't hurry." Nii-chan said walking into my room.

"Okay, Nii-chan." I said getting my bag and following him downstairs and out the door.

"You look tired, did you stay up all night reading those ghost stories again?" I pouted.

"No, I was excited about school and I couldn't sleep." He sighed.

"Geez, why do you even like that stuff? It's not even real." I sniffled.

"Well you don't have to be a jerk about it!" I said taking off to the bus station.

"O-oi, don't go running off by yourself like that!" I actually ended up running into someone and falling back on my butt. How embarrassing...

"S-Sumimasen!"

"It's alright, nobody got hurt right?" I looked up to see a guy about Nii-chan's age. He had black hair, dark eyes, and a very pale complexion. He looks familiar though, where have I seen him before?

"No," He held out his hand and I took it graciously. "Thanks,"

"Aki, I told you not to run off like that." Nii-chan said as he finally caught up to me.

"Hmph," I said looking away from him.

"Geez, you're still mad about that? Fine, I'm sorry."

"Whatever, let's just go. Ah, sorry for the trouble, sir." The guy chuckled.

"It's no problem."

"Come on, Nii-chan, we're going to be late." I said the last part, imitating his voice.

"Why you," I stuck my tongue out at him and took off again.

"Ugh," I laughed and got onto the bus quickly. Today was going to be fun.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Aki!" I look around and spotted...

"Michiru! Long time, no see!"

"I know right? What are you doing here? I thought you lived in the US?" I grinned.

"I know, we moved back! And I'm starting school here!"

"No way! Why didn't you tell me in your last e-mail?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise silly."

"Um, Michiru, who's this?" I look over and see a girl with brown eyes and brown hair and another girl standing next to her.

"Oh, this is my friend Aki who I met at that concert a few years ago. Aki, this is Mai and Keiko." I smiled.

"It's nice to meet you. I've heard so much about you two."

"Aki..." Mai said thoughtfully. "Oh! Michiru told us about you before! She told us about how you like ghost stories and stuff!"

"Yeah, do you like ghost stories?"

"We love them, right Keiko?" Mai said grinning. Keiko nodded grinning too.

"Oh? I believe Michiru mentioned that you worked for SPR was it?" Mai nodded. "I looked it up and it looked interesting."

"It's fun working there. Different things happen with each case we get." She said excitedly. I smiled.

"That sounds great. Oh! Now I remember where I've seen him before!" I said excitedly.

"Remember who?" Michiru asked curiously. So I told the three about the guy I ran into this morning. Mai groaned.

"Yep, that's my boss alright. He wasn't mean to you was he?"

"No, he helped me off the ground. Why would he be mean?" I am so confused.

"Because he's a narcissistic, egotistical jerk!" Then she went into some kind of rant telling me how he called her stupid every chance he got and stuff. I giggled at the end of her rant. "What's so funny?"

"It sounds like he's flirting with you."

"Naru, flirt? Ha! You're funny Aki." She said laughing. Michiru, Keiko, and I shrugged as she walked away still laughing.

"We think so too." Keiko said smiling as we all went to catch up with her. I grinned.

"She's in denial~" I said in a sing song voice. Michiru laughed.

"We've tried to tell her that but she won't listen." She said shaking her head.

"Oh well, she'll figure it out eventually." I said grinning.

"So, Michiru said you can see and talk to ghosts, right?" Keiko asked curiously.

"Yep,"

"And that's why you were curious about Mai's work?" Michiru asked curiously.

"Yep; although I doubt there would be any more room for me to work there. From what you've told me, it already seems crowded."

"Well, in the office it's just Shibuya-san, his assistant, and Mai. The monk, priestess, medium, and Catholic priest don't actually work under Shibuya-san. They have their own jobs."

"Oh, that's right. You said the medium is a famous TV star right?"

"Yep, that's Masako Hara. And the Monk guy is a bass guitarist in a band."

"Really?" I asked shocked. Keiko laughed.

"When Mai told us, it shocked us too." I wonder if I'll ever be able to meet these people. They sound very interesting.

"Ne, if there was a bad ghost in the school, would you tell us?" Michiru asked curiously.

"Of course, but I've never come across any bad ghosts before."

"Really?" Mai asked as soon as we caught up to her.

"Mm-hm, all the ghosts I've ever come across were either children or adults who looked really lost. So I tried to help them a bit by telling them that they had someone waiting for them on the other side of the light."

"And did they actually cross over?"

"Ah, no, not all of them. The children believed me when I said their mothers where waiting for them there, but the adult one's just ignored my attempts. And before you say anything, I actually did research on the children and how they died. I looked up their families and all of their mothers had passed away."

"All of them?" Michiru asked wide-eyed. I nodded sadly.

"Yeah, I did research on the adult one's too but they had so much regret that anything I said couldn't help them." Mai smiled.

"You tried and that's all that counts in my books." I smiled.

"I'm guessing in Naru's opinion it's not good enough, huh?" She laughed.

"Yeah, but he's always like that. He's always reading books," She said shaking her head. I can see why he teases her so much, she walks right into them. I thought chuckling.

"And let me guess, he never takes a break from them to just go outside and get some fresh air?"

"Yep, how'd you know?" She asked curiously.

"Eh, he just seems like the kind of person who would do that. I remember in middle school, that all I ever did was read. I would do it outside only because my parents told me it wasn't good for me to stay cooped up inside all day." I said shrugging. She smiled. "So which way is the office?"

"This way!" Mai said taking off in the direction.

"Mai, we'll catch up with you in class." Michiru said before she and Keiko took off to their class.

"I bet if you were to meet Naru, he wouldn't believe you right away if you can see and talk to ghosts." I sighed.

"Yeah, I know. Why do you believe me?"

"Because," She paused. "I don't know, but I can tell you're not lying." I smiled.

"Thanks. I wish my brother saw it that way..."

"He doesn't believe in the paranormal?"

"Nope and he always puts me down when ever it's brought up." I said rolling my eyes. "But you can't choose who your family is." She smiled.

"I have to disagree with that."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because Monk, Ayako, John, Lin, Masako, and Naru are like family to me. My parents both died a long time ago, so I live by myself."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." She shook her head.

"It's okay because I have them... oh and Michiru and Keiko too. I don't know what I'd do without those two." I smiled. I really like Mai. She's so warm-hearted and kind. "Did you have any friends back in the US that you miss?" I frowned.

"I didn't have any friends there or here before we moved away, because every time I was with someone, a ghost would appear and I can't ignore them." Well that's part of it anyways... "You, Michiru, and Keiko are the first people who aren't bothered or scared by it."

"What about your brother and parents?" I shook my head.

"It's human nature to be afraid of something you don't understand. My father got angry every time I spoke to a ghost when I was little and my mother just looked at me in disgust, but Nii-chan is more tolerable. Sure, he says some hurtful things every now and then, but he understands that I can't help it and that I was just born that way. It's not as bad now as it was when I was little. I can at least control it a little better." Mai hugged me.

"If you need anything, you can always come to me." I felt tears swelling up in my eyes as I hugged her back.

"Thank you, Mai."

"You're welcome." She said smiling when we let go of each other. We walked into the office and I got my schedule and stuff and it turns out I'm in the same classes as Mai!


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Mai's P.O.V

It was just another boring day at the office for me. I made tea for Lin and Naru, without getting one thank you from Naru again. Honestly, can't he be grateful for once and say thank you? I mean how hard is it to say two words? I am grateful for the job though. I gasped. Is it because he's still angry at me for breaking the camera!? I didn't know he could hold a grudge for that long!

Somehow, I don't think that's it -.-

I wonder if Naru remembers Aki from this morning. Oh well... "Hello, is someone here?"

"Ah, come on in the door's open." I said getting up and opening the door. "Come in." It looked like a married couple this time. Huh, I could see some resemblance between them and Aki. I gasp. "You don't happen to be Aki's parents are you?" The lady smiled.

"I see, you go to the same school as her?"

"Yes, she's my classmate. My name is Mai Taniyama."

"I'm Yuzuki Haru and this is my husband, Isamu Haru. We're here on Aki's behalf. Is your boss around?"

"Yes, have a seat and I'll get him for you." I wonder if this has to do with the fact that Aki can see and talk to spirits. Aki isn't going to be happy about this. I thought frowning as I knocked on Naru's door.

"Come in."

"Um, Mr. and Mrs. Haru are here to see you."

"What is it about?"

"Their daughter..." I said frowning.

"What's wrong?" I shook my head.

"I think I know what this is about, but you'll see." I sighed and left the door open as I went back into the sitting area. I waited patiently as Naru got Lin and the two of them joined me on the couch sitting across from Aki's parents.

"What have you come here for?" Naru asked them.

"You see, we just moved back to Japan a few days ago, but that's not why we're here. Our daughter Aki has been claiming she can see and talk to ghosts since she was very young. We moved to America to see if it was just a phase but she saw them there too." Mrs. Haru said shaking her head. "My husband has walked in on her having conversations with herself. But she wasn't talking to herself, she was talking like there was something in the room with her."

"How old is she now?"

"She's about Mai-san's age."

"Mai, do you know her?"

"Yes, I met her this morning and from what she's told me, so have you." I said scowling at him for forgetting her. He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"What do you mean?" I groaned.

"She literally ran into you this morning."

"I see." I smacked my forehead. "Anyways, has she told you about being able to see and speak with ghosts?"

"Yes, and I believe her." As I was saying this, I could see the disbelief in her mom and dad's faces.

"I see. Will you call her and have her come here?"

"I can call her." Mrs. Haru said digging out her phone. Naru nodded. She dialed a number and put the phone to her ear. "Aki, dear, will you come to this address for me? Don't argue with me, young lady." She said scowling. "Now get over here," Mrs. Haru gave her the address and hung up the phone. Then she snapped her phone shut and sighed. "She's on her way."

"Good, now, has anything else happened when she was speaking to these ghosts?"

"What do you mean?" Mr. Haru asked frowning.

"Did knocking noises occur or doors slam shut by themselves?" Lin offered.

"No, nothing like that." This was beginning to not look good for Aki. I thought frowning. About twenty more minutes of Naru questioning Mr. and Mrs. Haru, Aki finally came in. She sighed.

"I've already figured out why I'm here, so don't bother even trying to explain." She said crossing her arms. She looked at Naru and frowned. "You don't believe me do you?"

"No." She nodded.

"I thought so. I'm just going to tell you now: I don't plan on trying to make you believe me."

"Why's that?"

"You can't make someone believe something they don't want to believe." She said shrugging.

"I do have questions for you though."

"Go ahead."

"Do the ghosts come to you or do you look for them?"

"They come to me no matter where I'm at or who I'm with."

"Have you tried summoning a spirit?"

"No, are you kidding me? I've read enough books on the paranormal to know not to do that. What if something bad appeared? I wouldn't be able to send it away." Naru nodded as Lin typed away on his lap top.

"Last question, when did you start seeing the ghosts?"

"For as long as I can remember. It didn't bug me at all when I was little, but when middle school came along, it started to freak me out a little, but I've gotten over it and just accepted that there isn't anything I can do about it." Naru seemed to accept that answer.

"So?" Mr. Haru asked looking eager. Aki stared at him in disgust. I can tell she doesn't like her parents very much.

"All I can do is prove whether or not she can actually see them and even if I did tell you my opinion, it wouldn't change anything. I can't make her not see ghosts." Mr. Haru's face fell in disappointment.

"Well, thank you for your time and we're sorry for wasting it." Mrs. Haru said standing up. "Come on, dear." She took her husband's hand and led him out of the door. Aki sighed and started to follow them.

"Miss Haru, I would like to ask you something else." She frowned and turned to look at Naru.

"Yes?"

"We got a case just before your parents walked in, would you like to come with us?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"This is just so you can know for sure whether or not I can see and talk to ghosts isn't it?"

"You're smarter than you look." She sighed.

"Fine, I'll come with you, but I'm not doing your grunt work." She said before walking out of the door. I couldn't help but laugh. Naru sighed.

"I didn't even tell her about our cases!" I chortled.

"Just get back to work and tell her to meet at the office at eight tomorrow. I'll call your principal and have him make her exempt for the next few days." I nodded and went to the phone. It's a good thing she gave me her number. She picked up after the second ring.

"Hey, this is Mai."

"Oh, hey Mai." She sounded a bit stressed and upset.

"Are you going to be okay?" She sighed.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It's not something I should be surprised about anyways. They'd go to the extremes just to prove that I'm just being crazy."

"That's awful of them."

"I know right? Well, anyways, what did you want to talk about?"

"Naru said to meet at the office tomorrow at eight. We're doing the briefing here and if my suspicions are correct, you might get to meet Monk, Ayako, Masako, and John too."

"Okay and I'm serious about the grunt work. I refuse to do it." I laughed.

"No one has ever said that to Naru and not done it."

"Just you wait, I don't even work for him."

"As of tomorrow you sort of do." She scoffed.

"Whatever." Mai smiled.

"See you tomorrow, Aki."

"Okay, see you tomorrow Mai." Tomorrow was going to be interesting. "Oh, Mai?"

"Yeah?"

"We should get together and tell ghost stories sometime."

"I'd love to! I haven't had the chance to do it with Michiru and Keiko for a long time because of work and Michiru has a boyfriend and Keiko has one too, so we really haven't found the time to."

"That's understandable. The next time we talk to them we can ask them to join us."

"That sounds great! Bye!"

"Bye!" I put the phone back on the receiver and sighed. I miss the days when Michiru, Keiko, and I stayed after school to tell ghost stories. I thought as I got back to work. If Naru walked in, he'd have thought I was slacking off.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Aki's P.O.V

At eight o'clock in the morning exactly, I was standing outside the SPR office door. I guess Naru called the principal and if you're wondering, I kind of adopted Mai's name for him and she didn't mind. She told me the others call him that too. I had a bag of clothes with me just in case we had to stay on sight for a case. Mai told me about all the cases they had done so far last night via text. I guess you could say we've bonded. I told Michiru about it all and she was happy for me, Keiko too. But I've only been to class for one day and I'm already going to be exempt from school for the next four days. Apparently the cases that SPR do take lasts at least four, maybe five days max according to Mai. I finally knocked on the door after staring at it for two minutes straight and walked in. "It's about time you got here." A lady with long red hair said frowning. I rolled my eyes.

"Well excuse me for not having very good punctuality." The guy with blond hair, pulled back in a pony tail sniggered.

"She sure got you Ayako."

"Oh shut up."

"I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Aki Haru."

"Hosho Takigawa, but you can just call me Monk. Just about everyone else does." The guy with blond hair pulled back in a pony tail said smiling.

"So you're a Monk?"

"Yep!"

"Cool."

"I'm Ayako Matsuzaki, I'm a priestess."

"Sure don't act like it..." I muttered quietly.

"What was that, you brat!?"

"Nothing, Matsuzaki-san." I said smiling widely. Monk just laughed at this earning a swat to the back of his head.

"I'm John Brown, I'm a Catholic Priest." A blond haired kid said with an Australian accent.

"Wow, you're so young!" He chuckled.

"I get that a lot."

"And I already know who you are, Masako Hara-san. I've seen a few of your shows." She smiled.

"It's nice to meet you, Aki. It's okay if I call you that right?"

"Only if I can call you Masako, because I hate using honorifics." She chuckled.

"That's fine with me." Ayako sighed.

"I guess you can call me Ayako, then."

"If everyone is acquainted, I'd like to start on the case." Naru said rudely. I huffed.

"Rude..." I muttered sitting down next to John and Mai. Mai and Monk sniggered as Naru sighed.

"So what are we up against this time?" Monk asked as soon as everyone was seated.

"The principal of Chinmoku High School called me yesterday reporting students being possessed and what to me sounds like poltergeist activity."

"Possessions?" Mai asked wide-eyed.

"Apparently it happens to one student a week and in the words of the principal, 'I'm getting tired of hiring people who can't get rid of this,'"

"So in other words, he's called us in to do an exorcism on whatever spirit is possessing the kids and a poltergeist?" Ayako asked frowning.

"That's what I just said." Naru said sighing. Ayako scowled at him and huffed. Hm... They act almost as if they're like a family. I smiled. They may be a bit dysfunctional but that's okay with me. I wish my family was like this.

"Well, it sounds interesting to me." I said shrugging.

"But it does seem kind of weird that a student gets possessed once every week." Masako said frowning.

"Yes, that's what I thought was more concerning."

"So when are we going to the school?" I asked curiously.

"Right now." Naru said standing up. I shrugged.

"And I meant what I said I'm not doing your grunt work." Naru sighed.

"Fine, just don't get in the way." Everyone looked from him to me in shock. I grinned.

"I'm glad you understand, but you're the one who wanted me to come along with you on this case in the first place."

"Yes, but you didn't have to come." I scoffed.

"Do you want me to come or not?" He just stayed silent. "I thought so..." He shook his head and turned away to talk to Lin-san. "Ne, Mai, come on, we have to talk about how we're going to get Michiru and Keiko to join us." Mai nodded, looking a bit distracted.

"You're talking about something else right?" John asked curiously.

"Yep!"

"What?" Monk asked curiously.

"Oh, well Aki told me we should go tell ghost stories some time and we're going to try and get Michiru and Keiko to join us."

"Ooh, I love telling ghost stories, can I come?" Monk asked eagerly.

"But don't you have band practice?" Mai asked, scratching the back of her head.

"I've got time to tell ghost stories. Hey, if those two don't want to, I'll join you."

"Oh, this might be interesting, so I will too. That is if you friends don't want to." John said smiling. I chuckled. I was really starting to like these people.

"Okay, but even if they say yes, you're still coming right?" I asked grinning.

"Sure," The two said smiling.

"Let's get moving people." Naru said rudely before heading out the door.

"Rude!" I called after him. Everyone laughed, even Lin-san. Well he just chuckled but whatever. Mai and I got in the car with Monk and John, while Ayako got stuck driving with Masako. I can tell Ayako doesn't like Masako too much, but respects her. I guess Naru likes me. If he didn't, I probably wouldn't be here right now. He most likely would not have asked me to come if he didn't. I yawned still feeling sleepy. "Ne, how far away is Chinmoku anyways?" I asked curiously.

"An hour at most." Monk answered as soon as we were all buckled up and the car was moving.

"Do you mind if I take a small nap?"

"Not at all." John said smiling. I nodded, yawned again, and made myself comfortable before drifting off to sleep.

Mai's P.O.V

"Do you think she has dreams like you Mai?" John asked curiously. Mai shrugged.

"I honestly don't know. All I know is that she can see and talk to ghosts like Masako. I don't think she can channel them or anything like that though." Monk looked thoughtful.

"Does Naru believe her?"

"I don't know. He said no but after asking some questions, I'm just not sure. I'm pretty sure the whole purpose of asking her to come on this case with us is to prove it."

"She hasn't tried to prove it to him herself?" John asked shocked. Mai smiled and shook her head.

"No, she flat out told him she wasn't going to try and prove it to him because you can't make someone believe something they don't believe in." Monk chuckled.

"I can see her doing that. I'm surprised Naru is letting her get away with not doing any grunt work."

"Yeah, but I think she's going to do it anyways, because she won't have anything better to do." Mai said grinning.

"Don't let her hear you say that." John said jokingly. Mai laughed but quickly covered her mouth before looking at Aki. She was still sleeping. Thank goodness... Mai thought relieved. She wasn't sure what Aki was like when she was woken up, but Mai didn't want to find out. She hoped that when they wake her at the school, that Aki wasn't going to bite their heads off.

"You know, I'm not surprised that Naru didn't believe her right away. Anyone can go up to someone and say they can do something."

"Yeah, she seemed kind of sad earlier." John said frowning.

"Well, I know she doesn't get along with her family very well because of her ability to see and talk to ghosts. If anything, it's driving them apart. Her parents looked really disappointed when they found out Naru couldn't make her not see ghosts yesterday." Mai said feeling anger towards them.

"Well it is human nature to push away things you don't understand." Monk said frowning too. "I don't like it anymore than you do, but there really isn't anything we can do about it." Mai sighed.

"I know. I just wish Aki's parents were more understanding and supportive."

"Well, if it counts for anything, we can always give her the support she needs." Mai smiled.

"I think she'd like that."

"I wonder if Ayako would rather spend an hour with Naru and Lin or Masako." Monk suddenly said snickering. Mai giggled.

"I think she'd rather be with Naru and Lin. I bet she and Masako are fighting right now and won't stop until we get to the school."

"I don't doubt that for a second." John said chuckling.

*Chinmoku High School – I just made this up, so don't be hating on me because it sounds stupid please! :D


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Aki's P.O.V

"Aki, we're here." Mai said shaking me awake. I opened my eyes and yawned as I stretched my arms above my head.

"Oh, so this is the school, huh? It's pretty big." I said as we got out of the car.

"I wonder what kind of poltergeist activity is going on. Naru didn't exactly tell us what's going on." Monk said frowning as we walked up to the school. We spotted Ayako, Masako, Lin, and Naru waiting by the school entrance with a man whom I obviously didn't recognize.

"Well he didn't exactly get the chance to tell us." John said smiling as we walked up to them.

"This is Hideyoshi-san, he's the counselor. He's going to show us where we're going to set up base." Naru said as we bowed respectively towards him.

"Hello everyone, thank you for coming. Ichirou-san the principal isn't in today, so the vice principal Ishida-san asked me to show you to your room."

"Thank you." Mai frowned at this.

"Hey, Mai, what's wrong?" I whispered to her.

"Why can't Naru ever thank me when I bring him tea!?" She whispered furiously. I chuckled.

"He liiiikes you~" I said grinning. She blushed.

"He does not!"

"Aw, you're so cute when you're in denial." She glared at me and I just laughed.

"Is something funny?" Naru asked staring at me hard. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, but you wouldn't get it if it danced in front of you naked, so why bother asking?" Everyone just stared at me opened mouthed and wide-eyed in shock. Naru sighed looking annoyed.

"Can we just get back to work?" He asked after a short pause.

"Sure thing, boss man!" I said grinning. He began to massage his temples as we finally arrived at our destination. I smirked. This isn't going to be as bad as I thought it would be.

"You can all use the conference room." Hideyoshi-san said looking a bit awkward after hearing what I said to Naru.

"Thank you Hideyoshi-san." I said smiling and bowing. He nodded and left the room a bit quick.

"I think you scared him." Monk said snickering a bit. I shrugged.

"It's not my problem." Naru sighed.

"Let's go over the poltergeist activities and get the stories from the students after we get the equipment brought in."

"Aye, sir!" I said grinning.

"I thought you said you weren't going to do the grunt work?" Ayako said smirking. I shrugged.

"I didn't realize how fun it would be to annoy Naru, so I'll be happy to help." I said smirking at Naru. He sighed.

"Fine, do whatever you want."

"Aye, sir!"

"It's a bit heavy." Monk said as I followed him and Mai out of the room. I shrugged.

"That doesn't bother me."

"We thought for sure he'd get mad at you earlier." Mai said looking relieved. I snickered.

"Nah, if he's the kind of person I think he is, he'll get me back for it later. I look forward to it."

"Oh? I never knew you had a reckless side." Monk said grinning.

"Yeah, well what's life without a little recklessness?"

"You know that way of thinking can get you into a lot of trouble." Ayako said frowning. I shrugged.

"It's not like I have to try or anything." I muttered as I picked up a monitor and it was heavy but oh well.

"Why do you say that?" Mai asked curiously.

"Hm? Oh, it's nothing." I said distractedly as I followed Monk back to base with the monitor. I always seem to get into some kind of trouble whether it's my own fault or not. It's mostly others bullying me because they heard I can see and talk to ghosts, but then there are times where I would be walking home or just walking around in general, then something weird would happen; like if the sky was clear, it'd suddenly start thundering and lightning out and I'd get soaked. This one time I was walking home from school and this guy tried to take my school bag, but thankfully the friends that I had at the time, showed up and scared the guy off. Then there was this other time where after my friends at the time found out about me seeing ghosts, I was just walking to the grocery store to get some things for Nii-chan, I was at a stop light waiting to cross the road. It was weird because I was the only one there and there weren't any cars, so when it said walk, I started to cross the road and the next thing I know, a car was crossing the road at high speed and I just barely got out of the way, but it was just so strange.

"Aki, is something wrong?" Ayako asked looking concerned.

"A-ah, yeah, I'm fine..." I gasped as I heard a loud crack from above Mai's head. "Mai, look out! That branch is going to fall on you!" She gasped and ran towards me and Ayako. The branch nearly missed her.

"What's going on?" Naru demanded as he and Lin ran met up with us at the door.

"That tree branch nearly flattened Mai." Monk said shocked.

"And Aki told me to move out of the way. How'd you know?" Mai asked looking at me with wide-eyes. I sighed.

"This always happens to me. It doesn't matter where I'm at or who I'm with. I told you before."

"That was the doing of a ghost?" Ayako asked raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure. It's always been like this since I was little. Incidents like just now, they've always happened to me. This is the first time I've seen it happen to someone who isn't myself..." I said worriedly. "This doesn't look good."

"So this has nothing to do with the case?" Naru asked frowning. I sighed.

"No, it doesn't have anything to do with the case. It doesn't happen very often but I'm worried that it might happen again now that it's happened to Mai."

"I see, we're going to have to be more careful." I nodded. We finally loaded all the equipment up in the conference room and Naru told us about the poltergeist activities. In the library, tables and chairs would be flipped over when the librarian walked in first thing in the morning, in the cafeteria, the food trays would be scattered all over the floor and tables, in the chemistry classroom, the test tubes would be broken and the chairs would be strewn across the floor, and in gym, the balls would be scattered everywhere and sometimes the doors would shut on their own and lock the students in for about ten minutes tops. Wow, this is very serious. I wonder if whoever's doing this is doing it because they're angry with the school or they're just doing it as a prank.

"Do you think maybe this could be a human?" Monk asked curiously.

"I'm not sure, but if it's okay with the principal, I'd like to gather all the students and staff members in the gym and test them." Naru said thoughtfully. Hm, I wonder what kind of test he's talking about. Mai seemed to know what he meant and nodded.

"I'll go find Ishida-san and ask him." She said determined.

"Have someone go with you, I don't want something to happen like earlier." Naru said frowning. I sighed. Then I'm out.

"I'll come with you, Mai." Ayako said shrugging. Mai smiled and the two left the room.

"So have you seen anything yet?" Masako asked me. I frowned.

"No, but I've only been here and the entrance of the school. So I can't be sure." I said shrugging.

"Then you and Miss Hara can take a walk through of the school and report anything you might find. Monk and John, you two can take go too. Lin and I are going to work on where to set up the cameras." Everyone nodded and I followed Masako out of the room.

"So, you can sense the presence of spirits, right?" I asked her curiously.

"Yes, can you?"

"No, I can only see and speak to them."

"Did you see any spirits when that branch almost hit Mai?"

"No," I said frowning. "Now that I think about it, I've never seen any spirits when stuff like that happened to me. It's almost as if the spirit is hiding."

"When was the last time it happened?"

"That was three weeks ago, I almost got ran over by a kid on a bike. He lost control of it. I mean I heard him a few meters back and he was doing just fine but as soon as he got close to me, he lost control and I was almost hit."

"Hm, that does sound troubling."

"I don't know what it is, but it's starting to scare me. I'm afraid one day I won't be able to get out of the way in time." I said sighing.

"I'm sure Naru is trying to figure it out at this very moment." She said smiling. I chuckled.

"He sure is one for the mysteries, huh?" She chuckled.

"Yes, he wouldn't be himself if he wasn't."

"That's true."

"What were you talking about before that branch fell?" She asked curiously.

"Oh well, Mai told me she thought for sure Naru was going to get mad at me but I told her what's life without a little recklessness and then Ayako told me that that way of thinking would get me into trouble and I couldn't help but think of all the times I've had those incidents and then as we were about to enter the school, I heard the tree branch snap and told Mai to get out of the way." She nodded. "If I didn't have a monitor in my hands, I would've ran over there and pushed her out of the way."

"And this hasn't happened to anyone else but you before?"

"Nope, that's why I'm so worried." There was silence between the two of us for a few minutes before she gasped. "Do you sense something?"

"There's a dark spirit heading towards the roof."

"Should we go after it?" She shook her head.

"I'm no exorcist and I don't know any warding spells strong enough for this. Let's head back." I nodded and the two of us quickly went back to the base.

"What's wrong you two? You look like you've seen a ghost." Monk said teasingly as we walked in looking out of breath.

"I felt a dark spirit going to the roof." Masako explained. Naru narrowed his eyes at this. I decided I was going to go check the roof and ran out of the room.

"Aki, where are you going!?" John called as he and the others followed me.

"Outside to see if it's there!" I yelled back as I made it out of the doors. I quickly looked to the roof and gasped.

"Do you see it?" Naru asked curiously.

"Yes and it looks pissed. Maybe it's because of us? I don't know. All I can tell that it's saying that it wants us to go away. This one is different from the ones I usually see. It's corrupted by anger and hate." I muttered shivering slightly. Suddenly it looked me in the eyes and I froze up, eyes wide. What does it want from me? I saw the look in its eyes. There was evil behind it and it was definitely up to something.

"Aki, what's wrong?" John asked looking concerned.

"It's up to no good..." I said sliding down to the ground. "We have to watch our backs."

"Aki!" Mai called running over to me. She and Ayako had just shown up. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah..." I have a bad feeling about this case. Why did I agree to do this? Naru was right, of course. I could've just said no but I was curious about what their usual cases were like. Well, you know what they say. Curiosity killed the cat. I took in a deep calming breath and let it out slowly.

"Are you calm now?" Naru asked me. Wow, who knew he could be so nice?

"Yes, sorry." I said standing up. "But I'm serious, this thing isn't going to go without a fight." I looked back up at the roof. "It's gone now. I wonder where it ran off to..."

"I'm not sure, but I don't think this will be the last of it." Masako said frowning. Naru sighed.

"Let's get the cameras set up." Mai nodded.

"Oh and Ishida-san said it was okay for us to do the test. He said he'll call an assembly tomorrow morning at 9."

"Good. Mai, you and I are going to do the test tomorrow in the gym. And while that's going on, I want everyone else to check the data. Lin is going to do some research on the school. Miss Haru, you can come with me and Mai. I assume you want to know what the test is." I nodded. "After we have the cameras set up, you can all go home. There isn't much for us to do. Let's meet up at the office at 6." Everyone nodded and I decided to help Mai with the cameras and microphones. John came along with us.

"You didn't have to help me." Mai said as I helped her carry some stuff. I shrugged.

"I'm in no rush to get home." John was being oddly quiet but oh well.

"Can I ask you something personal?" She asked quietly after a few minutes of silence.

"Sure, knock yourself out."

"Do you and your parents fight all the time?" I frowned.

"Yeah, we do a lot and it gets exhausting after awhile. That's why I'm not really in a hurry to get home."

"Have they ever gotten physical?" John asked looking concerned. I shook my head.

"No, but there were a few times where I thought my dad was going to. He never did though. He'd just turn around and stomp out of the house and then my mom would yell at me for making him mad and finally I'd just give up and go to my room and ignore her. I don't get why she hates me so much, her twin sister used to be able to see ghosts and talk to them."

"Used to?" Mai asked curiously.

"Yeah, she died in a car accident when she and my mom were 18. Mom said she saw a ghost out in the middle of the street and thought it was a living person. So she stepped on the break and I guess the back breaks weren't working properly so, the car ended up flipping over and my aunt died on impact but my mom got out of there with a concussion and some scratches." I said sighing.

"Maybe she doesn't hate you, but just the fact that you have the same ability as her sister." John said thoughtfully. I shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess it really doesn't matter anymore because we still fight anyways." Mai frowned at that. There wasn't anything she or any one of them could do to change that. I can't make my mom not hate me for being able to see and talk to ghosts. After setting up the cameras, we all squished back into the cars and headed home.

"Are you sure you don't want me to just drop you off at home?" Monk asked me curiously, once we were back at the office. I shook my head.

"No I'll be fine walking home." I said smiling. "But thanks for the offer." He sighed. "Good night everyone."

"Good night, Aki." Mai and John said smiling. I nodded to them and headed home. Today's been a really long day. I thought as the sun started to set. I'm surprised mom and dad didn't care that I went on this case with Naru and the others. I thought for sure that they would oppose to it. Oh well... I thought as I walked into the house.

"I'm home." I announced walking into the living room. Mom ignored me, Dad grunted, and Nii-chan just smiled at me. "Good night." I said before going to my room. I took a quick bath before going to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day too. I needed to be ready for what may happen.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Sometime around three in the morning, I woke up to yelling. "I'm sorry, Yuzuki, but I can't deal with this. I'm leaving! That demon child has done nothing but be a nuisance. She always scares the neighbors away!" I looked down at my lap. Dad's leaving because of me. That's definitely not a good feeling. I wonder if Nii-chan is listening to this too.

"Please Isamu, don't leave me!" Mom sounded like she was crying; there's no doubt about it.

"I'm sorry, Yuzuki, but I have to get out of here." Then the front door was being slammed shut. The silence that followed sent shivers down my spine; like the calm right before a major storm. The next thing I know, Mom is storming into my room, full out glaring at me. She turned the light on, blinding me. As I tried to adjust my eyes to the sudden light, she walked up to me and slapped me so hard, I almost got whiplash.

"This is your fault!" She screamed. "Are you happy now!? Are you happy that he's gone!? I've never loved you! From the moment I found out about your little ability, I wanted to get rid of you! But your father thought you were just going through a phase, so we tried everything to prove that you were just faking it! I knew we should've just gotten rid of you!" She didn't even give me a chance to respond and slapped me again before leaving my room. I could feel the bruise forming on my cheek. Well, it could've been worse... I thought sighing. But it wasn't over yet. Nii-chan stormed in here next and decided to show me what he was feeling rather than tell me by punching me in my stomach. I felt the air leave my lungs and coughed, trying to get oxygen. But he wasn't done. The next thing he did was pull me off the bed by my hair and kicked me in my side. I groaned in pain.

"You're not welcome here anymore. So I suggest you pack your bags and get out." He said glaring at me before leaving my room. I sighed as I sat up. Now what am I going to do? I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. I needed to get out of there quickly before he came back and did something else. I packed what I could and left the house, informing Nii-chan I'd come back for the rest of it. He just glared at me. Why does this always happen to me? Suddenly it started raining and I groaned. Why does it have to rain right now!? Where should I go? I don't know where Michiru, Mai, or Keiko live or where the others live for that matter. Maybe I could go camp out at the office? I don't have a key. I sighed. I'll just have to suffer through the rain. I wish I had an umbrella. I thought as the cold started to set in. I shivered and rubbed my arms uselessly as the office finally came into view. I sat down in front of the door and wrapped my arms around my legs. Man, I'm so tired. I thought resting my head on my knees. I don't know how I did it, but I ended up falling asleep.

Naru's P.O.V

Lin and Naru are now just arriving at the office. The rain had stopped an hour ago. Naru stayed up late going over what they had so far. He was tired but he was worried about that dark spirit. When Aki had frozen up yesterday, she looked scared. He took that as a sign that whatever may happen is going to be bad and he didn't want to draw this investigation out any longer than it had to be. "What the," Lin said in shock as they noticed a figure of a girl, sleeping on the office steps. Naru frowned as he looked closer. She had a bag with her and she looked somewhat familiar.

"That's Miss Haru." Naru realized looking a bit shocked.

"What's she doing here so early? And she's soaking wet." Lin said shocked. And what's she doing in her pajamas? Naru wondered.

"Let's get her inside before she gets sick. I don't know how long she's been out here, but we need to get her inside." Lin nodded and picked her up. He gasped as her head rolled back, revealing a giant bruise on her cheek. "This isn't good." Naru muttered getting a bad feeling. Was it the dark spirit or did it have something to do with her family? Naru sighed as he unlocked the door. He was surprised that Mai wasn't here yet. She's usually the first one here. This meant she might be a little late. Great... Naru thought as Lin put Miss Haru on one of the couches and went and grabbed a few towels. Naru decided to go start some tea. She'd want something warm to drink when she woke up.

"Naru, there appears to be more bruises on her stomach." Lin called. Naru went back into the main room after turning the burner on. He cringed at the nasty purple and blue bruise. It looks like someone kicked her. It definitely had to be done by someone from her family. "There isn't much that we can do to keep her dry." Naru knew what Lin meant. They needed Mai. Luckily for them, Mai just happened to walk in through the door. She gasped.

"What happened to Aki?"

"We don't know, she was like this when we got here. Right now, we need to worry about keeping her dry." Mai nodded and looked through Miss Haru's bag.

"She has some dry clothes in here."

"Okay, you can use my office." Lin offered. Mai nodded and followed Lin carrying Miss Haru into his office. Then he came back out quickly. Naru sighed. More and more things just keep happening. This girl attracted more trouble than Mai and that's saying something.

"She needs medical attention."

"Yes, but I doubt she'll want to go to the hospital for this." Lin frowned.

"We have to do something."

"I know, but what can we really do? There's no way she'll go to the hospital and who's to say she'll actually tell us who did this to her? She'll be too frightened to tell anyone. I have a hunch as to who did this to her though."

"You mean someone from her family?"

"It's a possibility."

"Should I go and do some research on them?" Naru frowned in thought. She probably wouldn't appreciate it, but...

"Yes, if anything comes up, we'll tell her, but for now, let's not say anything." Lin nodded. The two waited patiently for Mai to tell them she was done. About thirty minutes later, Mai opened the door and announced that she was done.

"I'm going to run home real quick and put her clothes in the wash. I'll be right back!" Mai said before going out the door with Miss Haru's clothes. Naru sighed. It was nearly six. Just then, the tea pot started whistling.

"I'll get it." Lin said going into the little kitchenette. Naru looked down at Miss Haru, who was sleeping on the couch. What has she been going through that she hasn't shared yet? Suddenly she groaned and slowly her eyes opened.

"Naru? Where am I? Oh yeah," She muttered, sitting up and flinching, clutching her stomach lightly.

"So do you mind telling me what happened?" She sighed.

"I woke up at three o'clock this morning to my dad yelling at my mom. He left and I don't think he'll be coming back. So, my mom came up stairs, slapped me, told me it was my fault, and that she always hated me and all that good stuff. And then slapped me again. When I thought it was over, Nii-chan," Her voice started to crack here, surprising Naru. He was shocked she was even telling him. "N-Nii-chan came in and punched me and yanked me off the bed by my hair and kicked me, and told me I wasn't welcome there anymore and that I needed to pack my things and get out." By the end, she was in tears and Naru wasn't really sure what to do. He wasn't the best at comforting others. "I'm sorry." She muttered wiping the tears from her face.

"No, it's okay to cry every once in awhile." She nodded, smiling a bit. She took in a few breathes and let them out slowly. Lin brought the tea tray and sat it on the coffee table.

"Thank you." Miss Haru said as Lin handed her a cup of tea.

"Are you okay now?" She nodded.

"Yeah, thanks for listening."

"Anytime."

"Where are the others, I thought they'd be here by now."

"It seems they're running late." Lin muttered looking at the nearest clock. Naru sighed. He should've expected this. It was three hours earlier than the assembly but they needed an hour to get to Chinmoku High School and he knew how much dawdling they would do before they could actually leave.

"Mai took your wet clothes to her house to put them in the wash." Naru informed her. She nodded.

"Do you feel sick? You were out in the rain for who knows how long." Lin said looking concerned.

"No, but if I do, I'll let you know." Miss Haru said smiling. "I bet Mai will want to know what happened..." She looked thoughtful. "Ah well, I'll have to tell her sometime."

"But not when she comes back, everyone should be here by the time she comes back." Naru said sternly. She rolled her eyes but nodded.

"I know that. Do you know where my bag is?"

"It's right here." Lin said handing it to her.

"Thanks." She rummaged through it and pulled out a brush. "I bet my hair looks horrible." She muttered as she ran the brush through it.

Aki's P. O.V

About thirty minutes later, the others including Mai showed up. Mai looked worried but didn't question me right away. I guess she knew now wasn't the time to ask. I'm glad though, I didn't want everyone else to know. Right now, I'm fine with just Naru and Lin knowing, which is weird because we're not really that close. Now that I think about it, why didn't I just use my phone and call Mai? I mentally smacked myself. I'm so stupid half the time. "Hey, Aki, we didn't want to ask when we got here but how'd you get that bruise on your face?" Monk asked looking concerned. Crap, I forgot about that.

"I'd rather not talk about it..." I muttered looking down at my lap. I could tell he and the others were sharing a look, but I didn't care.

"Okay," Mai said sounding worried.

"Oh and thanks Mai, for washing my clothes." She smiled and nodded. The others besides Naru and Lin looked confused.

"Can we get back to the case?" Naru asked looking a bit annoyed. I was relieved to tell you the truth. "I don't want to draw this case out anymore than we need to."

"I agree, that dark spirit is troublesome." Masako said frowning.

"Like I said yesterday, we need to be careful." I said sighing.

"Also, I looked over what we have so far and noticed that there are some parts missing. I don't think the principal is being entirely honest with us."

"Yeah, all together the poltergeist activity hasn't really hurt anyone." Monk said thoughtfully. "So what compelled you to take the case Naru?"

"From the beginning I thought he was hiding something, so I wanted to find out what it was." Monk chuckled.

"That sounds like something you'd do."

"I think that dark spirit has something to do with it." Naru said more seriously.

"I could see if it would tell me its name..." I offered.

"First we're going to look into the history of the school and if we have to, you can ask it for its name." Naru said looking at me. I nodded. It was dangerous to just approach it.

"Plus if it attacked me, I wouldn't know how to defend myself against it."

"Miss Matsuzaki, please teach her a few warding spells."

"Alright, but she's riding in the car with me. If I have to spend another hour with Masako by myself, then I'll go crazy." Masako glared at her. Naru sighed.

"Fine." I chuckled. I wonder what Ayako is going to teach me. Does Mai know how to do it? She probably does. I doubt Naru would've let her go for long without knowing how to defend herself. He really does care about her, but he sucks at showing it. He really needs to work on his people skills. I thought amused remembering earlier when I was crying. From the look on his face, he obviously had no idea what to do. That thought had me laughing.

"A-Aki, what are you laughing at?" Mai asked wide-eyed.

"I-I'm s-sorry!" I chortled. "I was just remembering something." I said grinning once I had calmed myself down.

"What?" Masako asked curiously. I looked at Naru with my peripheral vision before winking at Masako.

"Hi~mi~tsu~!"

"Hold on, I saw you looking at Naru, what is it?" Monk said accusingly. I grinned.

"I'm not telling you." Besides if I told them, then they would ask more questions. He sighed.

"You're really stubborn." I shrugged.

"I've always been like that." Naru sighed.

"Let's get going." He said standing up. Everyone nodded and followed him out of the door, Mai locking the door on the way out.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Ayako and I were sitting in silence and it was kind of awkward, so I started humming a song from an anime I like. "Aki, that's really creepy." Ayako muttered, interrupting me.

"Huh? Oh sorry. It's stuck in my head." I said grinning. She smiled.

"Don't worry about it. Where did you hear it?"

"Oh, well I heard it from an anime I've been watching." She snorted.

"You watch stuff like that?"

"Yeah, is that a problem?" I asked raising an eyebrow. She shook head.

"No, I just never thought you'd be the kind of person who's into anime." I shrugged.

"So what kind of warding spells was Naru talking about?"

"Remember this: Rin, Pyo, To, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen!" While she said this she moved her hands like she was cutting the air.

"Rin, Pyo, To, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen?" She nodded.

"There are nine. That should help you if you're alone and a spirit attacks you." I smiled.

"Thanks, Ayako."

"Anytime, but um, are you sure you don't want to talk about what happened? It's not good to keep it bottled up."

"Don't worry, I already talked it out with Naru." She snorted.

"With Naru?"

"Yeah, you'd be surprised. He's actually a good listener." I said shrugging. "I'm assuming Lin was listening from the kitchen."

"Well, Mai said your clothes were all wet when she got there this morning. Were you out in the rain this morning?" I sighed.

"Yeah, I don't exactly have a place to stay."

"So this has something to do with your family?" She asked looking at me through her peripheral vision.

"Yes, but like I said, I don't feel like talking about it." She smiled.

"Okay, I understand. What are you going to do about your living arrangement though?"

"I think I'll ask Mai if I can stay with her until I get the money to get my own apartment." I said thoughtfully.

"I'm sure she won't mind." Ayako said nodding. The rest of the way was spent in silence which was fine by me because I was still tired and my stomach was starting to bother me. "Ne, Ayako? Do you have any Tylenol or Ibuprofen on you?"

"Yeah, here." She said giving me some.

"Thanks." I didn't have any water on me, so I swallowed them dry. We were finally at the school. I met up with Naru and Mai. It looked like Mai was trying to get some information out of him and he was ignoring her. I chuckled. "So what's this test you were talking about yesterday?" I asked, causing Mai to jump. Wow, for someone who deals with a lot of paranormal cases, she startles easily.

"Basically, I'm going to hypnotize everyone and plant a thought in their mind."

"Like?"

"I'll tell them that a stack of lunch trays in the cafeteria are going to be sitting in front of the cafeteria tomorrow morning. If it works, then that means the poltergeist activities are being pulled off by a human and if nothing happens, then we're up against a spirit." Naru explained as we walked into the school.

"Oh, so how accurate is this test?"

"100%."

"That's a lot of confidence." I said chuckling. He sighed. "Well, I can safely assume that things will get more interesting from here on out."

"Why do you say that, Aki?" Mai asked curiously.

"Well, with that dark spirit and the possibility of someone from this school causing the poltergeist activities, it just seems pretty interesting to me. Then there's the fact that things could escalate and get pretty bad. I know for sure that things aren't going to go smoothly from this point on."

"Yes, I have to agree." Naru said frowning. Mai frowned too. I don't like being the downer in the group but I can't help it. I gasped and stopped walking at the sight I was seeing.

"What's wrong?" Mai asked worriedly.

"That spirit from yesterday is here. It's standing at the end of this hall."

"What is it doing?" Naru asked urgently.

"It's telling me, no warning me that we shouldn't go into the gym."

"Why?"

"It won't tell me. It's smirking at me." I glared at it. It's really pissing me off. "How do you want to proceed?" Naru frowned, looking thoughtful.

"Let's keep going. You two stay on your guard." We nodded and continued walking. I didn't like that we were walking towards the spirit, not after the look it was giving me yesterday, but I was willing to bet that this was the one doing the possessions. It didn't do anything as we passed it but it gave me the chills just being this close to it. I didn't like it one bit. When we got into the gym, I sighed in relief.

"It didn't follow us." I informed them.

"I wonder why it didn't want us to come in here." Mai said curiously. I suddenly felt the need to look up and when I did, I gasped.

"What?" Naru asked looking at me.

"Up there." I said pointing up. There was a noose hanging from the raptures in the ceiling and a student was at the end of it. I don't know how that person got up there or how that noose got up there, but I bet it was the spirit who did this. Mai gasped and slid down onto the floor.

"Go get Hideyoshi-san and Ishida-san, they'll want to know." Naru said to me and Mai. I nodded and dragged Mai to her feet.

"Come on Mai." I said softly and pulling her to the door. She didn't need to see this and honestly I didn't either. I'm glad that Naru said that. The spirit wasn't outside the gym when we got out of there. Mai and I took off running towards the office. "Hideyoshi-san, Ishida-san, you need to come to the gym immediately and you might want to call an ambulance. There's been... a death..." The two men stared at me shocked. "Please hurry." The two kicked into action. Ishida-san ordered one of the ladies in the office to call the police and send the students home. Then we took the two to the gym. Mai stayed outside the gym, but I don't blame her. I wonder where Ichirou-san is. We haven't met him yet, but he's obviously hiding something.

"What is this?" Ishida-san asked shocked.

"We're not sure how this student got up there, but this is what we saw when we walked in." Naru answered him calmly, but I could tell he was a little shaken too underneath his mask.

"We've called the police. They're on their way. I've had the students all sent home." Hideyoshi-san informed him.

"That's good." Naru said sighing.

"Has this ever happened on one of your investigations?" Ishida-san asked him, looking a bit mad.

"No sir and we haven't done anything to cause this if that's what you're about to accuse us of. All we've done is walk around and set cameras up, nothing else." This did seem odd to happen on the second day. I guess that just means that the spirit is worse than I originally thought.

"I see," Ishida-san said finally after a few minutes of silence. Soon sirens could be heard and we had left the gym. Naru, Mai, and I returned to base.

"What happened?" Monk asked shocked. "All of a sudden the students were being dismissed for the day."

"Yeah, what's going on?" Ayako asked frowning.

"A student committed suicide in the gym, a hanging from the ceiling. And what's more troubling it was in the center of the gym." Naru said as I got Mai some tea. She looked like she could use a good cup. She took the tea gratefully and started sipping on it.

"How? The ceiling is too high for them to reach." John said shocked.

"I think that spirit has something to do with it, but I don't think it's just any spirit." I said frowning. "It's definitely not normal. It's almost as if it's a..."

"A what?" Lin asked curiously.

"A demon," I said grimly.

"If that's the case, then there isn't anything we can do to stop it." Naru said frowning. "We don't hunt demons."

"So it's going to be like the case with that house that had a bunch of rooms in it." Ayako said frowning.

"We can't rule out anything yet. What have you got on sound and the cameras?"

"On the cameras there is evidence of kids breaking into the school and moving stuff around; like the lunch trays and the furniture in the library,"

"Well that explains that." Monk said frowning.

"I'm assuming they aren't from this school because they'd have known about the cameras."

"I'm kind of surprised they didn't try to take off with the cameras." I said frowning.

"So they can't be all that bad then." Ayako said sighing.

"Other than that, there wasn't really anything on the cameras, but something in the gym happened. Here," The video showed the gym where Mai and I sat the camera in the corner of the room to get a full view of the gym. For a few seconds nothing happened. Then the next thing we know, a kid walked into the gym (it happened to be the one who committed suicide) and he seemed off; like he was in a trance. He walked into the middle of the gym and looked up at the ceiling. The next thing we know, the noose shows up hanging from the raptures. Gasps went all around as the kid was being lifted into the air by something and the noose was put around his neck and soon he was being dropped like a rag doll. I covered my ears as he made choking noises as if he just woke up from the trance he was in. He looked so scared. I turned away when I couldn't look at it anymore. Mai was doing the same thing.

"We need to show this to the police." Naru said sighing.

"I wonder if Ishida-san is going to make us leave." Monk said while Lin made a copy of the video.

"I don't know. For now all we can do now is wait, he's talking to Ichirou-san as we speak." Naru informed everyone. Everyone nodded and took a seat around the long table. Is this what their cases are normally like? Naru sure knew how to pick them.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

We finally got to meet Ichirou-san. He was acting really weird to me. I mean I know I've never met him before, but he was acting weird. For one, he was calm about the whole situation. I thought someone, whose student just died, would at least be a little panicked. And another thing that bothered me was he kept looking at us like we were food or something and he had this dark aura hanging around him. I couldn't really pin my finger on it. Another thing was, he didn't send us home like a normal principal would. He just wasn't normal at all. He's definitely hiding something. "Naru, I feel uneasy about Ichirou-san..." I said as soon as Ichirou-san, Ishida-san, and Hideyoshi-san had long left. He sighed.

"I do too."

"Well, this is something you don't see every day." Ayako said smiling.

"Didn't he seem off to you, Ayako?" I asked her frowning.

"What do you mean? I think you've been watching way too many anime." I sighed.

"That has nothing to do with my instincts. Anyways, would a principal normally let outsiders stay after a student's death? And why is he so calm? Shouldn't he be worried and concerned about what he's going to say to the boy's parents? Also, the look in his eyes, it was almost as if we were food or something the way he kept staring at us all. And what's with this spirit? I mean, why is it doing the things it's been doing for the last two days? What is it trying to say? What is its motive?" I said walking over to the window and looking out of it.

"Look at you going detective all of the sudden." Monk said smiling. I scowled.

"This is serious!"

"She's right." Naru said standing up from his seat. "Any one of us could've been in that student's shoes. Plus, Ichirou-san is a pretty shady character if I do say so myself."

"Then does that mean we're going to call Yasu?" Mai asked curiously.

"Yasu?" I muttered confused.

"His school was cursed and we investigated and solved it. So now Yasuhara-kun helps us out whenever he can." John explained. I nodded.

"Oh, I see. So he likes to dig around in other's business I take it?"

"Well, if it pertains to the case." I frowned. I wonder if he'll try looking into my background. Gah, this is why I hate nosy people. Not that I can't say anything, because I'm pretty nosy myself.

"Oh,"

"I'll call him." Mai offered getting out her phone.

"Okay, when Yasuhara gets here, we're going to regroup." Naru said finally. I sighed.

"I'm going out for some fresh air." I muttered.

"Be careful out there." John said smiling. I nodded and walked out of the room. What's up with this school? And seriously, what's up with the principal? Ugh, why did I agree to go on this case again? Oh yeah, because Naru pretty much talked me into it.

 _You should stay away from this school, or you'll die like the others..._

"Huh? Who said that?" I looked around and saw a figure of a boy about my age.

"You should stay away from this school, or you'll die like the others, Miss." The boy spoke. I held in a gasp as he looked up at me. His face was covered blood and he had this really creepy smile on his face. His eyes were showed no emotions whatsoever. And there was a black line around his neck. I wonder what happened to him.

"What's your name?"

"You should stay away from this school, or you'll die like the others!"

"I understand that, but what's your name?" I asked him nicely.

"Heh, you're a stupid one." He said smirking. The next thing I know, I'm on my knees and in pain. The boy was forcing himself into my body. Was he trying to possess me? That was my last thought before I blacked out.

Mai's P.O.V

"This school is so big." Yasu said walking into the conference room.

"You made it!" I said smiling. He nodded.

"And I've brought some information with me. I did a little research on the way here. It's not much though."

"Where's Aki? Shouldn't she be back by now?" Masako asked worriedly.

"Do you think something might have happened to her?" Ayako asked frowning.

"Lin," Naru said looking at him. Lin nodded.

"Understood." Then he left the room.

"I hope she's okay." I said worriedly.

"Do you think that dark spirit could have done something?" Monk asked curiously.

"Let's hope not." Naru said grimly.

"Ah, yes, about the dark spirit you mentioned. I looked up the school's history, but it's not complete." Yasu said sitting down.

"That's fine, just tell us what you have so far."

"Okay, so about four years ago, a first year by the name of Kohaku Shichirou set the gym on fire. He waited too long to get out and got trapped under one of the ceiling support beams. He was always singled out by the student body and he was made fun of constantly. But he had good grades and he lived with both of his parents who both have good jobs and are making a fair decent amount of money. I haven't had to the chance to question anyone close to them yet, but I'm sure I can figure out more about him when I can." I felt sad hearing the way he died.

"Do you know why he set the fire?"

"No, but I'll keep an ear out for that."

"Naru! Get John! The spirit has possessed Miss Haru!" Lin yelled carrying a struggling Aki in his arms. She was growling and swinging her limbs violently.

" _THIS WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED IF SHE HAD JUST LISTENED TO ME!_ " The spirits yelled through Aki's voice. " _I TOLD HER SHE WAS GOING TO DIE LIKE THE OTHERS IF SHE DIDN'T STAY AWAY FROM THIS SCHOOL!_ "

"Lin, she's not," I gasped.

"No, but I'm afraid if we don't exorcise it now, she might get seriously hurt." John nodded and started the exorcism.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was Life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. En Principio!" John had sprayed Aki with Holy Water and pressed a cross to her forehead. After that, all we could hear was the spirit's agonizing scream as it was forced out of Aki's body. Aki's body finally stopped moving and no sound came out of her as she slumped over in Lin's arms. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing hard.

"A-Aki?" She slowly opened her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry... I let it possess me..." She whispered before fainting. Lin tightened his hold on her, so she wouldn't fall.

"It's just as I thought. It's getting worse." Naru said thoughtfully as Lin sat Aki on one of chairs.

"But we haven't even done anything yet." Ayako said looking frustrated.

"I think it's trying to scare us out." Masako said as she took a damp towel to Aki's forehead wiped the sweat away.

"The question is why."

"I also have a little information concerning the principal, Ichirou-san." Yasu said speaking up.

"What is it?" Monk asked curiously.

"Well, he didn't become the principal until four years ago."

"You mean the same year Kohaku-san started school?" I gasped.

"Yes, and what more, it seems Ichirou-san was really hard on him too. Ichirou-san always called him into the office for no apparent reason but to just give him a hard time. I don't know why yet, but with a little more digging, I'm sure I can figure it out." Why that, how can someone be so mean!?

"His name... is... Shichirou... the spirit..." Aki muttered opening her eyes.

"You finally woke up." I said in relief. She chuckled.

"How did this happen?" Naru demanded. She sighed and sat up, stretching her limbs, wincing a little.

"I was just walking and then I hear, 'You should stay away from this school, or you'll die just like the others.' So I turned around and saw him. I asked him his name like three times and he just repeated what he said and then on the last time, he said I was stupid and I guess he possessed me. I don't know how I know his name but it just popped out in my mind while I was possessed. I saw memories." She said this with a distant look in her eyes, frowning. "They were horrible memories. That boy was bullied by everyone, including the teachers. He witnessed Ichirou-san doing something with what looked like a demonic circle to me. Shichirou didn't say anything but he did research on it and figured out what Ichirou-san was up to, but I didn't get to see what he was up to." I shuddered.

"I see, it looks like we've got a lead." Naru said thoughtfully. "In the meantime, we should report to Ichirou-san, Ishida-san, and Hideyoshi-san about the kids coming in here at night and then after we've done that, let's search the school for anything else we might've over looked." Aki nodded.

"I get the feeling that there's more to this than an occult." She said sighing. "Maybe there are some trapped souls here that are too scared of Shichirou to come out and ask for help." Masako stood up.

"I don't know about them being afraid of Kohaku-san but they are afraid of something."

"Very well, Miss Hara, you and Miss Matsuzaki take a look around the school. Monk, you and John do the same thing. Mai, you and I will go check the cameras and microphones to make sure they haven't been moved. Lin, you stay here and watch Miss Haru. I don't want another possession happening." Everyone nodded and I blushing a little, followed Naru out of the room. It's just me and Naru! Wah! What am I going to do!?

Aki's P.O.V

"Thanks Lin; I'm sorry about kicking you." He smiled ever so slightly.

"It's okay, you weren't yourself. Did any of that jostle your bruises?" I nodded.

"Yeah, they've been hurting more since then."

"Here, let me have a look." I nodded and lifted my shirt and let him change my bandages.

"I didn't go looking for him. He came to me."

"I know and Naru knows that too." I nodded, looking out the window, frowning. "What's wrong?"

"It's just, Shichirou reminds me of myself a little. I was bullied a lot in my other school and even in primary school. I was bullied by kids from my neighborhood and even a few teachers all because they thought I was weird. The kids and the teachers thought the same way about Shichirou. I could see it in their eyes, they all avoided him and whenever he tried to be nice, they just sneered in his face and called him names..." I shook my head. "Why do people have to be like that?"

"I don't know, but they all missed out on a good person." I looked over at Lin and smiled.

"Thanks, Lin."

"You're welcome Miss Haru." I sighed.

"You know you can call me Aki, right? I think calling me 'Miss Haru' is way to formal for friends." He chuckled.

"Yes, I suppose you're right."

"You know, I feel like we've met before a couple days ago..."

"Hm, well I don't recall ever seeing you before."

"I guess I'm just being silly. But I swear we've met before."

"We may have,"

 _You're just like me..._

"It's that voice again..." I murmured looking around the room.

 _I'm sorry for hurting you..._

"Can you tell where it's coming from?" Lin asked urgently.

 _Please forgive me..._

"No," I said shaking my head. "It's gone." Lin frowned. After a few minutes of awkward silence, I asked, "So did I miss anything while I was gone?" Lin spent the rest of the time that it took for the others to return telling me what Yasuhara-san had told them when he arrived.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"You know, I would've really liked to have gotten to know Shichirou." I said later on that day. I was at the Base with Mai, Lin, and Naru. Everyone else was doing Exorcisms to see if it would change anything.

"Why?" Mai asked curiously. I shrugged.

"I can really identify with everything he went through before he died."

"Aki!" Mai said wide-eyed.

"Oi, I'm not saying I'm gonna go and start a fire or something! I'm just saying, that I can relate to him and the problems he had. I wish I could've been there for him. I think we would've been great friends, you know?" She smiled and nodded. "So, have you talked to Ichirou-san about what Yasuhara told us earlier?"

"No, I'm waiting a bit on that. We should investigate more before we jump to any conclusions without any facts." Naru said looking at me.

"Yeah, well how are you supposed to find those facts without getting his side of the story first? Isn't that like Investigation 101 or something?" He sighed.

"Yes, but there are other things we need to investigate."

"What I want to know is what Shichirou meant when he said 'just like the others'." I muttered, frowning. "It suggests that there are more like him maybe? And if so, what are they afraid of? I don't think they're afraid of Shichirou. Maybe they're afraid of Ichirou-san?" Mai shuddered.

"If that memory you saw about Ichirou-san really happened, I'd say they're afraid of Ichirou-san, but if he was really into some occult stuff, then it may be possible he summoned a really bad spirit without knowing it." Naru said thoughtfully.

"Plus, I don't really think Shichirou is the one who started the fire. It's possible someone could've started it while he was in there." I said frowning.

"I've got some information on the fire." Yasuhara said walking into the room.

"Good timing!" I said grinning. "I don't think we got to properly introduce each other earlier. I'm Haru Aki, but you can just call me Aki." He smiled.

"Yasuhara Osamu, but you can just call me Yasu. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure's all mine."

"So what did you find out about the fire?" Naru asked interrupting our nice conversation; RUDE!

"Well, from the police reports, there was no way that Kohaku-san started the fire. I looked into it a little more. The ones I did read were revised copies of the original. They put that just to close the case." I frowned.

"So they were covering something up."

"Yes and again, our friend Ichirou-san is brought up in it."

"Let me guess, he'd been near the gym at the time of the fire?"

"Yes, you're really good at this Aki-san." I shrugged.

"I guess you could say I'm a bit of a mystery otaku."

"Is that so? I'm a bit of one myself." Oh? I'm starting to like this guy. Naru cleared his throat. "Oh right, sorry. Um, anyways, in the original reports, Ichirou-san was there just before the fire started. He was seen talking to Kohaku-san by two girls who were passing by to go to class. They were running late is what the reports say. The girls said Kohaku-san looked upset and angry, but they were in a hurry so they couldn't see anything else that was going on." Mai frowned.

"Ichirou-san was giving him a hard time again, wasn't he?" I was starting to like Ichirou-san less and less.

"Yes and his fingerprints happened to be on a gasoline can that was found after the fire was put out. The police couldn't find what ignited the fire, but Ichirou-san's alibi was that he had borrowed the gasoline can the day before and brought it back to the school janitor who is the owner of the gasoline."

"But why bring it back to the school to return it to him? Why not wait to return it after school?" Mai asked confused.

"That alibi isn't very good, so why did the police believe it?" Naru asked frowning.

"There's more to it. The police noticed this and asked Ichirou-san the same questions as Mai. Ichirou-san then said that the janitor asked him to bring it to him at school and they left it at that."

"They didn't even try to confirm with the janitor?" I asked wide-eyed.

"Nope, they just thought it was good enough I suppose. However I did look up the janitor and he's retired now, but I went by his home and asked him some questions. He said he never told Ichirou-san to bring it back to the school."

"Ichirou-san sure is looking more and more suspicious." Mai muttered.

"The janitor also said that Ichirou-san borrowed a lot of paint from him and paid him back for the paint. He said Ichirou-san would never tell him the reason for it, but he didn't want to push it. He said he could feel a bad vibe coming off Ichirou-san and didn't have the courage to say anything."

"Then if what the janitor is saying is true, then Ichirou-san is the one who started the fire and it is possible that he is involved with occult stuff." I murmured. "This isn't good."

"If it's going as far as this, I don't think there is much we can do." Naru said finally. "We'll have to involve the police and let them handle this." Mai looked like she was about to protest but didn't say anything. I understand the feeling. I want to help Shichirou and the others who were the victims of Ichirou-san but the only way to do this is to involve the police.

"Oh, here you all are." Ishida-san said walking in here. "Ichirou-san would like a word with you Shibuya-san." Hm... had he heard what we were talking about? He looked nervous. Maybe, just maybe he was involved in this all too. It's true Ichirou-san couldn't do everything by himself. Naru nodded and followed Ishida-san out of the room. As soon as I was sure they were gone, I asked,

"Ne, Yasu? Do you have anything on Ishida-san?"

"No, but I can do some digging."

"Why?" Lin asked curiously.

"Ichirou-san couldn't have done all this on his own." Mai frowned.

"That's true." Yasu said thoughtfully.

"Did you find out anything else?" Lin asked him.

"Well, I tracked down some of the students who knew Shichirou and they all described him as kind and nice but everyone thought he was creepy because he claimed he could see ghosts." I jolted at this. _So we are the same._ I don't know why but I felt like crying. What if I ended up like Shichirou? What if I ran into some teachers like Ichirou-san who would give me a hard time just because I can see ghosts?

"Aki, are you okay? You're crying!" Mai said hugging me. I sniffled and wiped my tears on my shirt.

"S-sorry, yeah I'm okay. It's just, I've realized that Shichirou and I are the same." She bit her lower lip. "He got bullied by everyone because he could see ghosts and I've been bullied for the same reasons."

"So you can see ghosts?" Yasu asked me. I nodded.

"I can communicate with them too."

"I tracked down his parents. The mother died two years ago and the father moved on and has a new family." How could he move on just like that? His wife and his son are both dead and he just moved on to a new family, just like that? "I talked to him and he was devastated about his son and wife but he told me, life goes on after death, so he did the same thing." I wonder if my mom, dad, and brother would do the same thing if I had died. I bet they'd be happy to have gotten rid of me. I mentally shook my head. Now wasn't the time to think about that. Masako, Ayako, Monk, John, and Naru all returned at the same time. Naru looked troubled.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Ichirou-san has called off the investigation."

"What? Why now? After he didn't call it off after that student died?" Ayako asked frustrated. Naru sighed.

"It looks like we were right about Ichirou-san."

"And Ishida-san." I muttered.

"Eh? Why Ishida-san?" John asked curiously.

"We'll discuss this later. Let's get all the equipment put up." Naru said as he and Lin started to shut everything down. After we had everything packed up, we all went to a restaurant down the road. We hadn't even had lunch yet!

"So what is this all about?" Ayako asked frowning as we all took our seats.

"Well, Yasu did some digging on the fire and it seems Ichirou-san is the one who set the fire. He was seen talking to Shichirou by some girls and the police covered it up with a revised report claiming that Shichirou started the fire. Also, the janitor whom Ichirou-san borrowed the gasoline can from said that Ichirou-san also borrowed paint from him and never told him his reason for needing it. I guess Ishida-san heard us talking about it and when he told Naru that Ichirou-san needed to talk to him, he sounded nervous. I bet Ishida-san has something to do with all this. I mean, how could Ichirou-san have done all this by himself?" Monk frowned.

"I see, so there's really nothing we can do about this, is there?" John said frowning too.

"That's what we were talking about before Ishida-san came in. I guess the only thing we can do is tell the police, but the only evidence we've got on Ichirou-san is the janitor and those girls' testimony." I said sighing.

"You can really relate to Kohaku-san, can't you?" Masako said eyeing me sadly. I nodded.

"Yeah, I feel bad for him and I don't want to leave it like this but there isn't anything we can do about it now."

"We should all watch our backs. I'm sure Ishida-san and Ichirou-san won't let us go this easily after finding out everything we know now." Naru said in warning. We nodded. "This turned out more dangerous than I thought it would. If I had known, I wouldn't have accepted this case."

"It's not your fault Naru. I'm sure Ichirou-san didn't expect this to happen either." Monk said sympathetically.

"Oh, Mai, do you mind if I bum off of you for a few months?" I asked her when we headed out to the cars. She looked at me shocked.

"No, but why?"

"It has to do with why I was out in the rain the other day. I'll tell you once we get back okay?" She nodded. "Besides it won't be permanent; it's just until I can find the money to get a place of my own." She smiled.

"Well, I bet if you asked Naru, he'd let you work at the office." I shook my head.

"Nah, as much as I like mysteries and the paranormal, I'd rather work in a place with less gloom. I mean there are some good moments on cases, but I would rather work at a café or something like that."

"Oh, then I can help you there! There's a café down the street from my apartment, they're hiring!"

"Really? Thanks Mai! I so owe you one for everything you've done for me!" She grinned.

"Anything to help out a friend!"

"Oh that reminds me, we still have some ghost stories to tell." I said winking at her. She laughed.

"Yeah, I can't believe you got Monk and John interested into telling ghost stories with high school students." I shrugged.

"It's a talent!" She grinned. I still couldn't stop thinking about Shichirou though. I wish there was some way to help him. I gasped, stopping in my tracks. Shichirou was standing in front of Lin and Naru's van. "Shichirou, what are you doing here?"

" _Please help me put a stop to Ichirou._ "

"How? There's nothing I can do about it." He looked so sad. I wanted to pull him into my arms and hug him.

" _You're going to go to the police right? I'll tell you what I found out about what Ichirou was up to. I have the papers hidden underneath a stone under a bench at a park a few blocks down the road from here. It's on the south side where very little people go through there. So it should still be there. Please go get them! That can be your evidence!_ " I nodded.

"Okay, Shichirou, I'll go get them. Thanks for the help." I told him smiling. "We'll try our best." He smiled and nodded.

" _Thank you and I'm sorry for hurting you._ " I shook my head

"It's okay, I forgive you." He looked relieved and finally he disappeared.

"What was that about?" Monk asked shocked.

"There's a park a few blocks down the road. Shichirou told me he hid the papers on the research he did of Ichirou-san."

"And he told you where to find them?" Naru asked me. I nodded.

"Yes, so what do you say Naru? Shall we give up on the whole thing or go to the police with those papers?" He sighed.

"We need to examine the papers first." I grinned.

"Alright, to the cars!" John chuckled as we all piled into the cars and went to the park. This has been very interesting for my first case so far. Maybe once all of this is over, Shichirou will stop possessing the students. I hope so.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

As soon as John stopped the car, I jumped out and started running to the south side of the park. He was right about how many people go through here. "Aki, why'd you take off so fast?" Mai panted as soon as everyone caught up with me. I smiled.

"Sorry, I just really want to help out Shichirou." Monk nodded smiling.

"We understand." I went to the bench and pulled up the stone and there was a manila envelope that was titled evidence against Ichirou.

"We should take these back to the office and look at them there." Naru said finally. I nodded. That would probably be a better idea. Shichirou was sitting on the bench now.

" _Will you come back?_ " I smiled at him.

"Of course we will." His worried face relaxed and he smiled at me.

" _I'll be waiting for you._ " I nodded and he was gone again.

"Kohaku-san again?" John asked curiously.

"Yep, he was worried we weren't going to come back."

"What's up, Naru?" Monk asked Naru. Naru had a peculiar expression on his face that I couldn't place.

"I'm just wondering how strong his spirit is if he keeps showing up to talk to Miss Haru." You know, he has a point. Everyone seemed a bit shocked by this statement but Naru quickly ordered us to return to the cars and announced that we'll be returning to the office. Yes, this case isn't over yet. There has to be something we can do to for Shichirou. I so badly wanted to read the papers, but I restrained myself and waited until we got back to the office. The atmosphere in the car was anxious and tense. Finally we got back to the office and once everyone was settled into a seat and had their own cup of tea, we began to go over the papers.

"Guys, this looks really bad." Monk said shaking his head.

"For him to be using these kinds of circles there's definitely a bad spirit in that school." Lin said in agreement.

"We'll have to do some research on the kinds of bad spirits that these circles can summon and try to determine what kind of bad spirit it is." Naru said thoughtfully.

"But I thought you said we were going to hand this over to the police?" Mai asked confused. I chuckled.

"We are, but we should still figure out what kind of bad spirits roam that school." I told her grinning as she flushed.

"We may not have to." Yasu said smiling. "It looks like Kohaku-san already did that for us." I looked at the paper he was referring to and saw a diagram. There were lists of different bad spirits and one of them was circled. It was one of those spirits where you could only imagine what they would look like. It said Destructive Spirit.

"Yes, this is definitely not good." Ayako said going pale.

"We need more evidence if we're going to convince the police that Ichirou-san and Ishida-san are involved with occult things and that Ichirou-san is the one who killed Shichirou." I said finally.

"You're right. All we have so far is the retired janitor's testimony, those three girls' testimony, and the gasoline can. We need to figure out what Ichirou-san used to ignite the fire and how Ishida-san is connected to all of this." Naru said thoughtfully.

"It's possible Ishida-san found out the same way Kohaku-san did and just went with Ichirou-san on the whole thing." Yasu said thoughtfully.

"If he did, he's really cowardly." I said scowling.

"So what's the plan, Naru?" Monk asked curiously.

"As far as finding what he used to ignite the fire, that's going to have to be up to the police. But if we got Ishida-san to ourselves and asked him some questions, we might be able to figure out how he's connected."

"Yes, but the tricky part is going to get Ishida-san to agree to it." John said frowning.

"I'm wondering just how loyal Ishida-san is to Ichirou-san." I said thoughtfully. "Is he waiting for someone to catch Ichirou-san? Or is he going to stick with Ichirou-san to the very end?"

"I'm sure there's more digging I can do." Yasu said smiling. "I'll look into Ishida-san and Ichirou-san some more."

"Okay, while you do that Lin and I will look into the officers who were on the case and see if we can get some answers." Naru said thoughtfully.

"I'll call my old mentor and ask him if he knows of any ways to get rid of the Destructive Spirit." John said thoughtfully.

"And I'll help you out." Monk said smiling.

"Count me in too." Ayako said smiling.

"I'll go contact some friends of mine and help look for a way to get rid of the Destructive Spirit too." Masako said thoughtfully.

"Well, it looks like it's just going to be you and me, Mai." I said smiling at her. She nodded.

"If anything happens, make sure to call one of us." Naru said to us. I nodded.

"Will do, Boss man." I said grinning. He sighed. "I do have a question though. How are we going to get rid of the Destructive spirit if our 'client' called off the investigation?" Naru looked thoughtful.

"Just leave that to me and Lin." He said with a confident smirk.

"Alright," I said shrugging.

"Let's all meet up back here at 10 tomorrow."

"Alright, then we'll see you tomorrow, Naru." Monk said smiling s he, Ayako, and John got up and left.

"Yes, we'll be seeing you tomorrow." Masako said before leaving too.

"Bye, Naru, Lin!" Mai said going out the door.

"Miss Haru, wait up a second." I nodded.

"What did you need?"

"What are you planning to do with your living arrangements?"

"I'm gonna stay with Mai until I get enough money to afford my own apartment." I said thoughtfully. "Mai told me about a café that's down the street where she lives and that they're hiring. So I was thinking of working there during the evening and save up to get myself an apartment." He nodded.

"Okay, but if you ever need anything, feel free to ask." I smiled.

"Thanks," He nodded and then I went out the door and found Mai waiting for me at the bottom of the steps. "I need to go by my house to pick up some things." She nodded, looking a little nervous.

"Do you want me to come in with you?"

"No, you can wait outside. I don't want you to have to put up with my family." I said shaking my head.

"Okay," She seemed a bit relieved. I wish someone would come with me though. It'd be silly to go back into the office and ask Naru or Lin to come with me. Besides it was too late now, Mai and I had already walked a block. I fiddled with my phone in my pocket as we got closer and closer to my house. Well, I guess it wouldn't be my house anymore. I thought sadly. "Are you sure you don't want me to come in with you?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I did tell my brother that I would come back for the rest, so they shouldn't do anything to me." She still looked worried as I entered the house. That did not ease my nervousness. "Hello?" No one answered back, so I just continued up to my room. I picked up some books and some more clothes. I cautiously went back downstairs and looked around. When I saw no one, I left the house quickly and ran over to Mai who was still outside the gate. I breathed a sigh of relief once we couldn't see the house anymore. "That was pretty nerve wracking." I admitted I followed her to her apartment. She smiled.

"It was nerve wracking for me too."

"Good, I feel a little better." She pouted. I just grinned at her. "So, roommate, what's on the menu for dinner?" She looked thoughtful.

"How about we get some take out?" She said smiling at me.

"That sounds good to me." We stopped by a take-out place on the way to her apartment and started talking about the case.

"Honestly, this whole case is scaring me."

"I don't blame you." I said sympathetically. "It scares me too thinking about the things Ichirou-san could've summoned using that stuff. Honestly, what was that guy thinking?" I shook my head. "Doesn't he know that that stuff is dangerous?"

"I don't know. Maybe he doesn't care."

"Well he's really foolish if that's what he thinks. He's putting the lives of his students and his staff in jeopardy by doing that stuff. Plus he killed a student. Well, we don't have hard evidence to prove it, but it's still wrong that the police didn't check into the janitor. What were they thinking? Laziness is what I call it." I grumbled.

"Maybe Kohaku-san's father and mother told the same thing to the police but they didn't do anything about it."

"I want to talk to the people who 'took care' of the case and see what their point of view on this was." I said scowling.

"Well, maybe there's more behind their decision that they haven't told Yasu yet."

"You should text Naru and tell him to ask them why they made that decision."

"Okay," She said smiling. After doing so, she stopped in front of an apartment complex. "We're here! Come on!" I followed her in and we went up three flights of stairs.

"Why did you have to get a place that's on the third floor?" I panted as we stopped in front of her door. She grinned.

"It was the only one available at the time and I thought it would be a bit of a hassle to try to get one on the first floor." I nodded.

"I guess that makes sense." I said as she opened the door. When she flicked on the lights, I noticed that it was a pretty simple layout. As soon as you go through the front door, you enter the living room and just off of it were a small kitchenette and two rooms. One I assumed was a bathroom.

"I hope you don't mind sharing a bed with me."

"Nope, it doesn't bother me."

"So do you want to talk about what happened?" I sighed as we took a seat on the sofa. I eventually started telling her what happened and she looked horrified by the end. "How could they do such a thing?"

"There's nothing I can do about it now." She frowned.

"I know, but it's still wrong."

"Honestly, I'm glad to be free of them. I don't have to deal with them looking at me like I'm a piece of dirt on the floor or something." I said shrugging. She sighed.

"Well, let's eat and get to bed." I nodded. After eating and talking a bit more, we both went to bed, exhausted from today.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Ichirou's P.O.V

"What are we going to do, Ichirou-san?" Ishida asked frantically. "Those kids know too much!"

"I know, I know, be quiet and let me think!" Ichirou grouched. Ishida went quiet. He couldn't do anything illegally. That'd put the cops on him. He told them the case was off, but that didn't mean the kids were going to stop investigating him. He wasn't sure how much they found out already, but from the reaction of Ishida, he'd say they knew quite a bit about what happened. Ichirou smirked. "They don't have any proof of what happened."

"But I heard them talking about that retired janitor!" Ichirou frowned.

"That is troublesome. Well, it looks like Janitor-san is about to have a house fire." Ichirou said smirking widely. Ishida's eyes grew the size of dinner plates.

"Ichirou-san, you can't mean," Ichirou was starting to get irritated with this man.

"Yes, we're going to burn his house down." He wasn't going to resort to anything illegal at first, but if those kids knew about the old janitor, then desperate times called for desperate measures.

"But, sir,"

"I'm glad you agree. We'll do it Friday night."

"B-But, sir!" Ichirou ignored the man.

"Let's meet up at three in the morning. I'll take care of the gasoline, you just bring something to ignite it, got it?" Ishida sighed.

"Yes sir," The two men left the school not saying a word to each other. One had a grim face but the other had a determined expression.

Aki's P.O.V

" _Nii-chan, what are you doing?" Little eight-year-old, Aki asked walking into her brother's room. He had woke her up in the middle of the night._

 _"_ _Eh? Oh, it's just you." Nii-chan was fixing to sneak out his window._

 _"_ _Where are you going?" Nii-chan sighed._

 _"_ _Don't tell mom and dad, okay? I'm going to see my friend. So please don't tell?" Aki nodded, looking determined._

 _"_ _Hai, Nii-chan!" Nii-chan smiled in relief._

 _"_ _Good, now go back to bed. I'll see you in the morning."_

 _"_ _Mm!" Then Aki turned around and went back to her room like she was told. The next day though, Aki woke up to yelling. She yawned and went into the kitchen. As she got closer, she started to understand that her brother was getting into trouble for sneaking out the night before. "Ne, what's going on?" She decided it was best to just play dumb._

 _"_ _Nothing, go make yourself a bowl of cereal." Oka-san ordered her. She nodded and did as she was told. Later on after the yelling had stopped, Nii-chan walked into her room._

 _"_ _Hi, Nii-chan!" She greeted him with a wide smile. He, however, was not smiling. He was glaring at her._

 _"_ _You told her didn't you?" She gasped._

 _"_ _I didn't! I promise!" He didn't believe her._

 _"_ _Liar!" She felt the tears coming. "Whatever," He muttered before leaving her alone. She cried the rest of the day. Why did he have to call her a liar like all the other kids? She really did see those ghosts. She couldn't help it if they came to her. She didn't ask them to. Why did everyone have to be so mean to her? That thought made her cry more._

"Aki! Aki, wake up! You're having a bad dream!" Mai's voice broke through my sleep ridden mind. I opened my eyes and realized that I had been crying.

"I-I'm okay, Mai." I said sniffling and rubbing my eyes.

"What were you dreaming about?"

"Um, I was 8 at the time and my brother woke me up in the middle of the night. I caught him sneaking out and he told me not to tell my mom and dad. The next day, my mom was yelling at him for sneaking out and later on, he came into my room and accused me of telling her and when I denied it, he called me a liar. It really made me upset, because when I was little I tried to get other kids to believe me when I said I saw a ghost, but they never believed me and called me a liar." I said sighing.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that alone!" Mai said hugging me. I smiled and hugged her back.

"Thanks Mai."

"You're welcome Aki," Suddenly both of our stomachs growled causing us to laugh.

"I guess we should find something to fill our stomachs."

"Leave it to me!" Mai said grinning.

"Okay, Chef Mai!" Mai puffed out her chest and went into kitchen. I laughed and shook my head. I love this girl. Seriously, she's such a good friend. I'm glad I met her. Speaking of friends, I have a text message from Michiru.

 _Hey, how's the case going? – M_

 _Actually, it's going pretty badly at the moment. I'll tell you about it after we finish it, okay? I'd really rather not talk about it now. – A_

 _It's okay, I understand. – M_

 _Oh yeah, Mai and I were wondering if you and Keiko wanted to tell ghost stories with us, John, and Monk after school one day. – A_

 _We'd absolutely love to! Keiko is with me and she wants to do it too! – M_

 _Great! I'll tell Mai! – A_

 _Wait, why are you with Mai this early in the morning? – M_

 _It's complicated but I'm having issues with my family right now. So I'm bumming off Mai for a little bit until I get the money to get my own place. – A_

 _I see, well, if you ever need to talk to someone, you can come to me or Keiko! We've got your back! – M_

 _Thank you, Michiru, Keiko. I'm glad I got to meet you two and Mai. You're the first group of friends I've had who doesn't care that I can see ghosts. :) –A_

 _Aw, Aki, don't cry! T~T – M_

 _I'm not crying! :P Anyways, I'll get back to you when I find out what day we're going to tell ghost stories. –A_

 _Okay, talk to you later! –M_

 _Later! – A_

"Aki, breakfast is ready!"

"Okay!" I grabbed my phone and walked into the kitchen. "Mm, it smells good!"

"Thanks!"

"I was just talking to Michiru. She said she and Keiko want to tell ghost stories with us, Monk, and John."

"Great! Breakfast is served!" I sat down at the table and we started eating.

"Have you got any messages back from Naru?"

"No, but I doubt he'd message me back unless it's something really important." Mai said sighing.

"He really does like you, you know?" She scowled."I'm serious! I've met a person who was completely serious and didn't bother with people much, until some months later. He started acting more open and stuff and he was always with this girl."

"Is there a point to this story?"

"If Naru didn't like you, then he wouldn't have given you your job and he wouldn't do the little things like help you pick up your files and stuff when you drop them." Mai blushed.

"Y-You saw that?" I grinned.

"Yep, but don't worry, I won't say anything!" She sighed, but this time she was smiling.

"Thanks, Aki,"

"That's what friends are for!"

"Oh, I just got a message from Naru!" She said blushing. I grinned.

"See? He likes you!"

"He wants us to meet him and the others at the office."

"Okay, let's get dressed first." She nodded smiling. Thirty minutes later, we were heading to the office, running. I can see why Mai is late sometimes.

"Sorry, we're late!" Mai said out of breath as we entered the office. Naru sighed.

"It's fine. We've got some information to share with everyone." I nodded.

"Ne, where are the others?" I asked frowning.

"They're almost here." Lin answered from his computer.

"So they're late too, huh?" I chuckled. Mai huffed and went into the small kitchenette to make tea for everyone.

"How are your bruises?"

"They're starting to heal."

"That's good," Lin said smiling. I smiled back at him.

"I haven't heard from my family yet, but I'm sure my brother will try to contact me, somehow..." Mai frowned as she walked into the room with a tray of tea cups.

"I don't think you should be near him." She said worriedly. I shrugged.

"I know what you mean, Mai, but he's still my brother and my parents are still my parents. Even if they don't care for me, I still care for them."

"That's a good feeling to have." Masako said as she and the others finally walk in. I nodded. Monk sat next to me and hugged me out of the blue.

"Eh? Monk what are you doing?"

"You can always come to me!" He said teary-eyed. I rolled my eyes but chuckled.

"Thank you Monk," I said hugging him back.

"You're welcome!" He said letting me go and ruffling my hair.

"Oi, I just did my hair!" I scowled, trying to fix it as he laughed. "Jerk," I muttered crossing my arms.

"Aw, don't say that T~T" I just grinned at him.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"If everyone is done visiting, I would like to get down to business." Naru said sighing. We just grinned at him sheepishly. "Lin and I talked to the officers in charge of the case and they admitted to not confirming Ichirou-san's story with the retired janitor. They also told us that they noticed some painted symbols in the old school building that was there at the time before it was demolished."

"Did they get any pictures of them?" Monk asked completely serious now.

"Yes," Lin said pulling them up on his laptop.

"They're the same ones Shichirou had in those papers." I muttered as Lin showed the pictures to everyone.

"That must be where Ichirou-san was doing his stuff before." Masako said frowning.

"So where's he practicing now?" Ayako asked frowning too.

"We're not sure, but the officers said they still have the finger prints and everything on file." Naru said after taking a sip of his tea.

"I also found out some information on Ishida-san." Yasu informed the group. "He's been pretty busy over the last few years. He's spent a lot of money on paint supplies and he's been paying rent on a storage unit that isn't too far from Ichirou-san's home."

"Yes, the officers Lin and I talked to said they learned about that a few weeks ago and have gone to check it out, but they didn't find anything." Naru looked troubled.

"He probably used something to cover it all up if that's where Ichirou-san is practicing." I said frowning.

"Ishida-san has been seen at the library looking into dark rituals and the librarian there told me he checked out a few books on summoning spirits from the other side. She said he took them out in large quantities and wouldn't bring them back until a week after they were supposed to be due."

"How long has he been doing that?" I asked curiously.

"Hm," He said skimming through some papers. "For about two years now. He's had to pay a lot of late fees on books but the librarian said he didn't seem to mind."

"Then Ishida-san must've found out two years ago and has been doing all of this for Ichirou-san for the last two years."

"It seems Ishida-san is the one to talk to. How are we going to approach him?" Masako questioned. Yasu grinned.

"Well, I talked to the school secretary, who happens to have Ishida-san's schedule. Plus, I called his wife and found out what he does on his days off. She said he spends most of his time in his study, but sometimes he'll step out for hours at a time saying he was going to see Ichirou-san at the school."

"I bet he goes to that storage unit to see Ichirou-san," I said grinning too.

"Okay, you mystery otakus, take it easy." Monk said sighing. "Don't forget that we're technically not on the case anymore. So we have no right in snooping around in Ishida-san's home."

"But Monk, Yasu wasn't _snooping_ in Ishida-san's home. He was just talking to Ishida-san's wife on the phone and the storage unit isn't his home either. We may not be able to talk to him at the school, but if we catch him at the storage unit, then maybe we could get our chance to talk to him." I said with determination. I want to help out Shichirou as much as I can.

"What do you think Naru?" Mai asked him. Naru sighed.

"What day is Ishida-san off next?" Yasu and I grinned.

"Next Saturday."

"Alright, let's all meet back here next Saturday at 1 pm."

"Okay!" I said grinning. Monk sighed, shaking his head; although he didn't say anything about it. "So, Monk, since it's the weekend, how about we go and tell ghost stories with Michiru and Keiko?" He chuckled.

"I'm okay with it, if you are John." John smiled.

"That's fine with me."

"Great! Let's meet up at our school around 2:30 in the afternoon tomorrow?" I said looking at the other three.

"That sounds good." Mai said nodding.

"Yeah, that's fine. We'll meet you there." Monk said grinning. I grinned back. This was going to be fun. Later on, Mai and I went to go check out that café that she was talking about.

"May I help you?" A girl with long black hair pulled into a ponytail and was wearing glasses asked me. She was wearing a waitress uniform which consisted of a black lace dress that cut off at the knees and had a red ribbon tied around the waist, white tights, and black flats.

"Um, I'm here to ask about the job opening." She smiled.

"Alright, step this way. What was your name again?"

"Aki Haru." She nodded.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Hajime Tsuchida." I smiled.

"It's nice to meet you too."

"So have you any experience as a waitress?"

"No, but I'm willing to learn." She nodded.

"It's not hard once you get it down, but I'm sure you'll be okay." She said as we entered the back room. "Just let me get Suzuki-san, our manager." I nodded and waited patiently as she went into the manager's office. The employee area was small, but it was nice.

"You are Aki Haru, yes?" A woman with mid-length red hair that was left down and wearing a uniform like the waitress uniform, only it was red with a black ribbon, and she also had white tights and black flats said walking up to me.

"Yes ma'am." She smiled.

"I'm the manager, Izumi Suzuki. When can you start?"

"Monday after school." She nodded.

"Do you just want to work the weekdays after school?"

"Yes, please." She smiled.

"That's doable. You can start at 4:00 after school on Monday. We just need your size for your uniform." I smiled back.

"Okay!" After measuring me for my uniform, she told me I could pick it up on Sunday at 2 in the afternoon. "Okay, I'll see you Sunday!" Then I went back out to see Mai drinking some tea.

"Did you get the job?" She asked eagerly.

"Yeah!"

"That's great!"

"I know!" I couldn't stop grinning.

"What should we do to celebrate?" She asked thoughtfully as we headed back to the apartment.

"First we should call Michiru and Keiko!" She nodded.

"Let's invite them over for dinner!"

"We're gonna have to go grocery shopping aren't we?" She laughed nervously.

"Yeah, I forgot about that." I laughed.

"Come on, we've got some grocery shopping to do! You call Michiru and Keiko and don't forget to tell them about the time and day we're going to tell ghost stories."

"Leave it to me!" She pulled out her phone and dialed a number. As she talked to those two, I led her to the nearest grocery store and grabbed a cart. Hm... what should we have to eat? "Great, we'll see you there!" Then Mai hung up the phone.

"That was quick." She shrugged.

"As soon as I told them, they said they would be right over." I chuckled.

"So, roommate, what should we get?"

"Well, what do you feel like having?"

"Why do you always answer my questions with another question?"

"I don't do that all the time, do I?" She asked, 'innocently'.

"Ugh!" She laughed. "How about a steam pot?"

"Alright, that sounds good to me!" We got all the ingredients and returned to the apartment where Keiko and Michiru were waiting for us.

"Sorry for making you wait,"

"Congratulations!" Michiru said hugging me and cutting me off. I chuckled and hugged her back.

"Thanks," We ended having a sleepover and it was really fun. I'm glad I met Michiru. If not for that, then I wouldn't have met Mai, Keiko, or Naru and the others. I'm glad that I've met these people who accept me for who I am. Later on that night, Mai got a call from Naru.

"What!?" Mai said loudly. "That janitor's house is on fire!?"

"What?" I asked alarmed.

"Yes, I understand. Aki and I will meet you and the others at the office." Then she hung up the phone.

"What's going on?" I asked her worriedly.

"Do you remember the janitor Yasu told us about? Thirty minutes ago, the police were informed of his house being on fire. Luckily his wife made it, but the janitor himself wasn't so lucky. He's in a burn unit at the hospital right now. Naru and Lin are heading to the office and has asked us to meet them there." I nodded. I looked over at Michiru and Keiko, who looked confused.

"Sorry guys, we really need to go." I said feeling badly. Michiru and Keiko smiled.

"It's okay, we understand. Is it alright if Keiko and I stay here for the night?"

"Yeah it's okay," Mai said smiling at them.

"We'll see you tomorrow, okay?" They nodded and then Mai and I got changed and headed to the office.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Naru, what's going on?" I asked as soon as Mai and I got to the office. The others hadn't arrived yet.

"The janitor's house was caught on fire earlier this evening." He answered as we all sat down. "The police found a gasoline can not far from the house. They're analyzing it now for fingerprints."

"How's his wife?" Mai asked, looking concerned.

"She's shaken up, but she's going to be okay. She didn't suffer any serious injuries, but she did lose her house." Lin answered, frowning.

"That poor woman," I muttered shaking my head.

"Who would do such an awful thing?" Tears ran down Mai's cheeks. I hugged her.

"It had to be Ichirou-san." I said frowning. "He's the only person that I can think of who would do this." Naru nodded.

"Yes, that's what Lin and I were thinking too."

"There's no doubt in my mind that the others think the same. So what should we do now?"

"I'm not sure. That's why I've asked everyone to meet up here." Naru said sighing. I nodded. While we waited for the others to get here, Lin made some tea.

"Here Mai, drink this," I said holding the cup up to her. She nodded, sniffling, and took a drink. She took in a deep, shuddering breath and let it out slowly. "Are you calm?" She nodded.

"Y-Yeah, thanks." I smiled.

"No problem." The others finally showed up, looking worried. Naru spent the next hour telling everyone about what was just discussed. After everyone was filled in, Naru looked like he was weighing his options.

"We can still hand in those papers of Kohaku-san's." John offered. "They explain everything that Ichirou-san is up to."

"Let's do that Sunday. I'm sure everyone needs some time to get over this shock." Naru said finally after thinking it over. We nodded.

"Also, we can still go check out Ishida-san next Saturday." Masako added. Naru nodded.

"I've decided that Lin and I will go and check him out."

"No way, we're coming with you Naru." I told him sternly. "You can't do everything by yourselves. I know how dangerous this is. I don't know about you, but I've been through a lot of dangerous situations ever since I can remember. Probably more than a normal person should. This is nothing compared to what I've had to go through." I looked away as I said this. I've seen some pretty horrible stuff. The things I listed off before were nothing compared to the other things that have happened. I've seen animals get killed and people have gotten into accidents all because of those little incidents. A little girl that looked to be six years old got caught in between two cars that would've almost hit me if I didn't move out of the way in time and the little girl died. I blamed myself for that little girl dying. I sighed. "Well, anyways," I paused. "I think it would be safer in numbers if we go to talk to Ishida-san. That way if he tries anything, he can't get all of us together if we go. Those that get away can go and call for help." Naru nodded after a few minutes of consideration.

"Alright, we'll go together." After a few minutes of silence, we all decided to leave.

"Come on, Mai. We've got some ghost stories to think about for tomorrow." I told her grinning once I'd gotten myself together. She smiled and nodded. "John, Monk, you better watch out, we might just scare your pants off." Monk chuckled.

"Then I guess John and I will have to work on our stories for tomorrow too. Isn't that right, John?" John smiled.

"Yes, I look forward to it."

"Did someone say ghost stories?" Yasu asked curiously, but to me it looked like he was eager about it.

"Yeah, Mai, Monk, John, Michiru, Keiko, and I are going to be telling ghost stories at our school tomorrow." I answered smiling at him.

"That sounds fun, but it's too bad I won't be able to join you. I still have a few loose ends to wrap up in my research for this case."

"Maybe you can join us the next time we decide to tell ghost stories." Mai offered smiling at him. He chuckled.

"I'd be honored to join you."

"Great, we'll let you know when we decide the date and time." I said grinning. Telling ghost stories with Yasu seemed interesting.

"Right, we've kept Michiru and Keiko waiting long enough." Mai said smiling at me.

"Oh, that's right! Guess what guys?" Everyone looked at me. "I got a job at the café near Mai's apartment."

"Congratulations!" Everyone, minus Naru, said smiling and/or grinning at me. Naru of course had his head stuck in some file. I rolled my eyes at him, but smiled none the less.

"Thanks," Not too long afterwards, Naru booted us out and Mai and I were walking back to the apartment.

"I think I'm starting to get over the shock now." Mai said finally when we got inside. I smiled.

"That's good. Let's get some sleep. We've both had a pretty long day." She nodded. Sometime around 8 in the morning, my phone went off. "Hello?" I said tiredly.

"Aki, it's me."

"Nii-san? What's up?"

"Mom and Dad want you to come home."

"Mom AND Dad? What do you mean? I thought Dad left." I sat up feeling more alert now. I decided to go into the living room, so I wouldn't wake the others.

"As soon as he heard that you were gone, he came back." I rolled my eyes.

"Of course he did."

"Look, they just want to talk to you."

"I'm sure they do. Let me guess, they're sending me off? Or are they moving away and expect me to come with them? Oh, or maybe they're moving away and leaving me here?"

"Aki, stop!" I could hear the scowl in his voice.

"Then what do they want to talk about?" He sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry for hurting you like I did. I know you probably don't trust me anymore, but trust me when I say this. They want to apologize to you. They feel guilty for the way they were treating you."

"Well that's too bad. If they feel so guilty, I expect them to call me, not you." I said coldly. "And another thing, I don't believe you. Unless they come to me and tell me themselves, I'm not coming home. I don't even know if I can call that house my home anymore. I'm sick of being treated the way I've been treated and I'm not going to stand here and take it anymore. So, you can tell them that unless they come to me, I don't want to talk to them." He sighed again.

"Somehow I knew you'd say something like that, but you know they won't like that."

"At this point, I really don't care what they like. They can shove it somewhere uncomfortable for all I care."

"Don't say that about Mom and Dad!"

"Well, I'm not taking it back, so good bye." Then I hung up the phone. I sighed and returned to our room. Why does he have to make me so mad all the time? And what was the point in calling me if he already knew my answer? Maybe he gets a kick out of making me mad. Jerk... I thought getting back under the covers.

"Are you okay, Aki?" Michiru asked from next to me. I sighed.

"No, my brother called me." She frowned.

"I get the feeling that that's a bad thing." I nodded.

"You know how I told you about having family issues?" She nodded. "Well, you see, my mom, dad, and brother don't like the fact that I can see and talk to ghosts. They've treated me like an outcast ever since I was little. They made me go to therapists and things like that since I was little too."

"That's awful." I smiled.

"That's not the worst part. My parents were fighting because of me a few days back and my dad ended up leaving. It made my brother get mad at me and he took his anger out on me and pretty much kicked me out." She gasped.

"Why would he do such a horrible thing? I think being able to see and communicate with ghosts is an amazing gift." I smiled and hugged her.

"Thanks," She hugged me back.

"You're welcome. But seriously, that's really wrong of them."

"I know," I sighed as we let go of each other. "He called me because according to him, my parents feel guilty about everything I went through. I told him if they were really guilty then they'd come to me and tell me that themselves and basically told him I didn't want to talk to them unless they came to me." She nodded.

"Good," I grinned.

"So have any good ghost stories in mind?" She grinned too.

"Just one, but you'll hear about it later." I yawned and the two us went back to sleep.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

We all eventually got up at 11. We were still a little tired from being up late, but we decided going to my new job to get coffee and breakfast would be good for us. "Mai and I heard you yelling this morning, is everything alright?" Keiko asked me worriedly. I smiled.

"Yeah, my brother called me, but everything's fine." Mai didn't believe me but didn't say anything, which I'm grateful for because I really don't want to talk about my 'family' right now. It would just ruin the rest of the day for me.

"So who's excited about this afternoon?" Michiru asked changing the subject. Thank you Michiru!

"I know I am." I said grinning.

"You're going to try and scare the crap out of John and Monk, aren't you?" Mai said grinning.

"Of course! And, I might I have a little surprise later on." Mai shook her head. I decided to text Naru and ask him to join us near the end. I texted him while the other three were still getting ready. I heard from Mai that the first time she met Naru was when she, Keiko, and Michiru told ghost stories. They were using flash lights and he was there listening in and they were doing that thing where each of them tell a story and when they're finished they turn their light out. After all the lights out, they count down from the number of people there and the last one is supposedly a ghost. I think I'll have Naru be the last one just to scare them again. I just hope it works on Monk and John too. It would be boring if it didn't. I told him not to tell anyone involved in our ghost story telling, so that it would come as a surprise. He didn't show it, but I could tell he was looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to it too. I can't wait to see Monk and John's face when Naru scares everyone. I thought grinning.

"Aki, what are you planning?" Keiko asked nervously. I shrugged.

"Nothing much; or I should say, you'll figure it out later." Michiru pouted.

"You're so mean, Aki~!" I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Well, I never said I was nice." She stuck her tongue out at me.

"It's a fancy meeting you girls here," I looked up and grinned. Monk and John were just walking in.

"Hey Monk, John," I greeted them as they sat down with us.

"It looks like we all had the same idea." Mai said grinning too.

"So how's the investigation going?" Michiru asked curiously. "Aki, you said you'd tell me about it." I grimaced.

"I did tell you that, didn't I?"

"We've got a lead that we're going to follow on next Saturday." Monk said frowning. "This isn't like our usual cases though."

"It's not?" I asked him curiously. He shook his head.

"Usually the cases don't involve the police and it's not this complicated. Even Naru looks like he's struggling to understand this case."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that. If all your cases were like this, then I don't know if I'd be able to handle it. Seriously, this is totally draining."

"The police are involved?" Keiko asked gasping.

"Yeah, it was unexpected." John said sighing. He looked exhausted. Now that I think about it, he's not the only one. Monk, Ayako, Masako, Naru, and Lin all look exhausted, even Mai does too

"Can you tell us what's going on so far?" Michiru asked curiously.

"It's probably too dangerous to do that now." Monk said thoughtfully. She pouted.

"That's why I said I'd tell you after we were finished with the case." I said smiling at her.

"Someone vital to the case was just killed last night." Mai said grimly. The two gasped.

"That's why we don't want to tell you anything. We don't want you two to be targeted next." John said smiling sadly. They nodded.

"Okay." Keiko, Mai, and Michiru got up to use the bathroom, telling us they'd be right back some time later.

"Are you okay, Aki? You seemed to be really upset yesterday." Monk asked me in concern. I frowned.

"I'm okay now. Yesterday, when I was talking about going through a lot of dangerous things, I was talking about those incidents that happen to me from time to time."

"How bad did they get?" John asked worriedly. I smiled grimly.

"Really bad, like someone dying bad." Monk hugged me.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." I smiled and hugged him back.

"Thanks, but I'll tell you about it eventually. Right now, I don't want to talk about sad things though because this case is kind of depressing. So, that why I want to tell ghost stories."

"Understood!" Monk said grinning as we let go of each other. I smiled. Once the other three got back, he asked, "How about we go and tell ghost stories now, since we're already together?" Mai grinned.

"That sounds like a plan!" Crap, I need to message Naru. So on the way to the school, I messaged Naru. His reply back made it seem like he was a little irritated but agreed to come anyways. I grinned. I love messing with this guy. It's really fun. We reached the school in no time at all and made it inside the school without any trouble. I was getting excited. We entered one of the unused classrooms and crowded around the desks. We decided to sit on the floor so we wouldn't bring any attention to ourselves.

"So, who wants to go first?" Michiru asked curiously.

"Ooh, I want to!" Monk said grinning.

"Wait, did everyone bring a flashlight?" Mai asked curiously. We all pulled out our flashlights and turned them on.

"Alright Monk, scare our pants off." I said grinning.

"Oh, I plan to." I can't wait. "Okay, a mom bought a porcelain doll for her daughter."

"Monk, you aren't telling what happened with Ayami-chan are you?" Mai asked him scowling slightly.

"Of course not, now listen." She sighed but nodded. "So, the daughter instantly loved it. She played with it 24/7. One day, her mom decided that she was going to take her daughter to an amusement park. The daughter left the doll on her bed and when she came back home later that evening, the doll was waiting for them at the front door. The daughter tried to tell her mom about it, but her mom just assumed she left the doll at the front door. Later on that night, as the girl was sleeping, she heard something rustling that woke her up. When she woke up, the doll was lying beside her on the bed and staring at her!"

Monk said this part loudly. "Come on Monk, I know you can do better than this." I said grinning. He stuck his tongue out at me and continued his story.

"The daughter thought nothing of it and went back to sleep. The next morning, the mom came into the daughter's room to check on her daughter and found the doll broken. The daughter was sitting on her bed staring at the wall with a blank expression her face. When the mom called out to her, the daughter didn't respond. The mom waved her hand in front of her daughter's eyes but they didn't flinch or anything. The mom also noticed that her daughter's skin was hard like glass."

I spotted Michiru and Keiko shiver. Mai looked freaked out and honestly I felt goose bumps go up my arms.

"She even tested the theory by taking a hammer to her daughter's skin. The daughter shattered like glass, but there was so much blood. The mom committed suicide later on, leaving a note stating how sorry she was for killing her daughter."

"Okay, that was more creepy than scary, Monk. How did you manage to think something like that up?" I asked him curiously. He grinned.

"I've heard a few stories here and there." I rolled my eyes as he turned his light off.

"Okay, let's go in a circle. Since Monk started, John you're next." Mai said grinning. He nodded.

"Alright," He paused thoughtfully. "There was this church in Australia I used to visit every day. In the nursery, there are rumors of a little girl sitting in the corner and she always cried. When someone went to find out why she was crying, she would slowly look up at the person. The little girl's eyes are always blacked out and she'd have a too wide smile and when a person looks into her eyes, she would start screaming and if they ran away from her, she would follow them. And then, if she caught them, she would put her hand down that person's throat and steal their soul." This time all of us, including Monk, shivered.

"Wow John, you topped Monk's in creepiest story." Mai said excitedly. John just laughed nervously.

"Really? I thought it wasn't that scary at all."

"Yeah, I'm with John on this one, but it did creep me out." Monk said shrugging.

"Okay, I guess I'm next." Michiru said as John turned his light off. "This girl was walking into her AP Bio class and saw a purple butterfly resting on the window. She went to get a closer look at it and it flew into her chest and disappeared. The girl was freaked out, but she didn't say anything to anyone about it."

Nice creativity... I thought impressed.

"After class, she forgot all about it and moved on with the rest of her day. Later on that night, her stomach was hurting her, so she went to the bathroom thinking it was just that. But when she looked at her stomach in the mirror, she found a hole in her stomach!

Mai and Keiko screamed. Oh come on, it wasn't that scary.

"She screamed and when her mom came to check on her, the girl wasn't in the bathroom, instead there was a purple butterfly resting on the bathroom mirror."

"O-Okay, my turn." Keiko said as Michiru turned her light off. "Well, one day a boy was wandering around the music room after school. He found a dusty music box in the instrument closet. He asked the teacher if it belonged to anyone, but it didn't. So he took it home and cleaned it up. After cleaning it up, he opened it, but no music played. He looked at it more closely and saw that it was in need of some repairs. So the next day, he went to an antique shop and asked if it was possible that the owner could fix it. The owner said he could do it in two hours. Two hours later, the boy paid the owner and took the music box. "Boy," The owner said with a troubled expression.

"What is it?" The boy asked the man curiously.

"Ah, it's nothing, have a good day." The boy nodded to the owner and soon he was heading back home. When he got home, he went straight into his room, shut his door, and opened the music box. He never came out of his room and his mother was worried. So she went to check on him. She knocked on his door.

"Satoshi-kun, are you alright in there?" She asked him, but there wasn't an answer. "I'm coming in." She said worriedly before opening the door. Once she did though, she screamed. What she found was her son lying on his bed, blood leaking out of his ears. But there was something wrong with it. His blood wasn't red, it was black. The music box lies next to him, with its lid shut. She rushed to him. "Satoshi-kun!"

"M-Mom, it's funny, isn't it? My blood is black..." He said, laughing. He coughed. "I wonder if your blood is black too." He got up, grinning. She backed away from him slowly.

"Satoshi-kun..."

"Mom, I love you." The next thing his mother knew, he had pulled out a knife and slit her throat! "Oh," He frowned. "You're blood isn't black..." Then with a scream, AAAAAAH!

Everyone screamed at that. "Keiko-san, don't do that so suddenly." John said clutching his chest.

"Really," Monk said trying to calm himself.

"He slit his own throat!" Keiko said ending her story.

"That's it?" Michiru asked her. Keiko just shrugged.

"That's the best I could come up with." I smiled.

"You did a good job." She just smiled and turned her light off.

"Okay, Aki, it's your turn." Mai told me. I nodded.

"Okay, there's this old abandoned building in Osaka where if you go there on Hollow's Eve, you'll be cursed for the rest of your life. The curse is called the Kisaragi Curse. The Kisaragi Curse is when you have really bad luck for the rest of your life. It doesn't sound that awful now, but a girl, Shiba Miyuki-chan, and her sister went to the old abandoned building on Hollow's Eve on a dare from their older brother. Their brother dropped them off and left them there to spend the night. When he came back to get them, Miyuki-chan never said a word to him and her eyes had no emotion whatsoever in them. It was like she was just an empty shell. Her sister however was just fine. In fact, she was smiling really big and looked to be happier than the day before. The brother was put out by it, but thought nothing of it. He figured they were just trying to scare him since it was Halloween. Though, his youngest sister went back to her usual self, Miyuki-chan, however, did not. She stayed distant with a blank face and her family and friends grew concerned for her. She wouldn't even speak to anyone. Then one day after school, her friends cornered her in the classroom after their last class. They asked her what was wrong, but got no answer.

One of the girls got mad at her and slapped her, demanding her to answer them. Then Miyuki-chan said, "You're all going to be cursed by her!" The girls looked at her, feeling uneasy.

"What do you mean, Miyuki-chan?" One of them asked. "Who's 'her'?"

"She's going to curse you all next." The girls left her alone after that. And the days that followed they started avoiding her and as they did, they started to notice that their luck seemed to have turned for the worse. Their grades started slipping, their purses were being snatched almost on a daily basis, their parents got into fights and threatened to divorce each other, and one of them had the bad luck to get caught in the middle of a car accident. She was hit from both sides and died on impact. The girls got scared and blamed Miyuki-chan for everything that happened. And you know what happened next?"

"W-What happened?" John asked nervously. I grinned.

"Miyuki-chan told the girls the next day, "It's your own fault for making her angry," And Miyuki-chan was never seen again after that day. Some say she went back to that abandoned building and killed herself and others say she moved to another town looking for more victims. The girls that were cursed were left uneasy and continued to have bad luck."

"Aki, I think your story is the creepiest one." Monk said shivering. I shrugged.

"Well, Mai, it's your turn." I said turning my light off. I was so excited for what was going to happen at the very end. Mai nodded.

"There was once a girl named Sayaka. She went to Kurosaki Academy with her two friends, Miki and Yuma. The three girls heard that the school was haunted and decided to see if it was true. So, one day they all hid in the gym until everyone, including the security guards, left the school. They had brought flashlights with them and started walking around. Sayaka and Yuma were walking in the front while Miki walked behind them. She didn't make a sound because she was very timid. It started raining outside and Sayaka knew Miki hated thunder storms. So Sayaka turned around to check on Miki and Miki was gone. "Yuma, Miki's gone!" She cried. Yuma jumped at the sudden noise.

"Miki's gone?" Yuma asked looking around. "Where did she go?" Sayaka rolled her eyes.

"How should I know?" Sayaka asked frowning at Yuma. "Anyways, we should go look for her." Yuma nodded and the two turned around to go back, but then they heard a scream.

"Aaaah!" Mai let out a scream here causing us all to either scream with her or jump.

"The girls turned around so suddenly they almost gave themselves whiplash. "Miki! Is that you!?" Yuma cried out.

"The scream came from the opposite direction, let's go!" Sayaka said, grabbing Yuma's hand and the two took off in the direction of the scream. "Miki!" Sayaka yelled as they walked down a narrow corridor.

"Answer us Miki! Are you okay!?" Yuma yelled out as the girls came to the last room at the end of the corridor. The girls paused at the door as they heard a voice coming from inside.

"H-Help... me..." They heard someone whisper."

"M-Mai, don't use that voice..." Keiko stuttered. I have to hand it to Mai. She is one hell of a ghost story teller.

"Miki, is that you?" Sayaka whispered. Yuma slowly put her hand on the door handle and turned it slowly. She pushed the door open and suddenly there was another scream."

Again Mai let out a scream here, this time I screamed too because it totally caught me off guard.

"Yuma and Sayaka both screamed and ran away. Sayaka made it back to where they were before. "Yuma, we got away." Sayaka said feeling relieved. Only when she turned around, she noticed that Yuma wasn't behind her. She now heard two screams. They were Miki and Yuma. Sayaka was scared and didn't know what to do. So she started walking away from the direction she just came from. As she walked, she heard things falling or being knocked over, whispers, footsteps, and then suddenly she couldn't take it anymore and took off running. Sayaka wasn't paying attention to where she was running and suddenly, SMASH!"

"Wah!" Everyone but Mai cried out in shock.

"She ran through a window and fell to her death. The next morning, the security guards didn't find anything out of the ordinary. It was like Sayaka, Miki, and Yuma never existed. Where did they go? And what happened to Miki and Yuma? No one ever found out."

"Mai, you're really good at this." I told her grinning. She grinned back.

"Thanks."

"Now, then we need to count back from 7." Michiru said as Mai turned her light off.

"7..."

"6..."

"5..."

"4..."

"3..."

"2..."

Pause...

"1..." Suddenly everyone, but me obviously, screamed. I laughed as Naru turned the light on.

"That was great, Naru!" He shrugged.

"Naru!" Mai yelled scowling at him. I shrugged when she finally figured out that I was the one who messaged him to be here. "Aki!"

"What? It was hilarious seeing Monk and John's face when Naru said 1." Monk pouted.

"How could you be so mean to this old man?" He said hugging me.

"Monk," I whined. "Naru, save me!" He sighed. "Oh! Naru, what time are we taking those papers to the police tomorrow? I have to pick up my uniform for work tomorrow at 2."

"We'll leave at 7 in the morning and we should be back by 10 at the latest." I nodded.

"Good," Then he excused himself and left. I pouted.

"Party pooper." Monk chuckled as he let me go.

"So that was your surprise." Michiru said sighing.

"That really scared us." Keiko said still clutching her chest.

"That's what I was hoping for." I said grinning. The rest of the day was spent just hanging out. Monk and John had some things they needed to get done. Darn, I forgot to ask him how their search was going on finding a way of getting rid of that evil spirit at that school. Oh well, I can always ask them tomorrow.


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The next day, Mai and I went to the office to meet up with everyone. Today we're going to turn in all the information we have on the case to the police. I was starting to feel uneasy but I don't know why. I know we're going to try and get a hold of Ishida-san this Saturday, but I can't help but feel like something bad is going to happen. Mai looks uneasy too. I wonder if me telling Naru that he and Lin shouldn't go by themselves is a bad thing. But I can't take any of it back now; it's too late for that. I just hope when we go, nothing bad will happen. "What's wrong Aki? You seem worried." John asked me as Mai and I arrived. I shook my head.

"It's nothing. I'm just being paranoid." I noticed Naru giving me a look, but he didn't say anything. I'm assuming he's going to want to talk to me about it later. Great... I don't want to tell Naru that I'm worried. He'll end up deciding on just him and Lin going again. But I'm worried that something might happen to them. I mean, I know Lin has said that Naru has good fighting skills and that Lin wasn't bad at fighting either, but they're not bullet proof. Great, now I'm even more worried. Yes, it's better that we go as a group. If Ishida-san had a gun then he couldn't take all of us out.

"Are you sure you're okay, Aki?" Ayako asked me frowning.

"Yes, I'm sure." I said putting on my best smile. Now Lin was giving me a look. Yep, they're definitely going to want to talk to me later on. I inwardly sighed and pulled myself together. "Ne, isn't Yasu supposed to come with us?" I noticed he wasn't in the room.

"Yes, he said he'll meet us there." Lin answered.

"Oh, okay. We better get going because I don't want to be late for picking up my uniform for work." Ayako grinned.

"That's fine, but after you get it, you have to show it to us." I pouted.

"But Ayako, I don't want to get it all wrinkly." She rolled her eyes.

"That's what irons are for." I sighed. There was no getting out of it.

"Oh alright," Monk grinned.

"We would've come in to the café to see you in if you refused." I rolled my eyes.

"Then why do you want to see me in it if you were just going to come into the café to see me?" I swear they can be annoying sometimes... kind of like a family...

"Because we want to see you first!" Masako said smiling. I sighed.

"There's just no winning with you guys is there?"

"Nope!" They all said it at the same time. Naru sighed. I was wondering when he was going to intervene. Where was he earlier!?

"As amusing as this all sounds, we need to get going." Jerk... I thought pouting. Lin noticed this and chuckled.

"Aye sir!" Monk and Mai said grinning.

"Mou~ You guys are so mean!"

"You're so cute~!" Ayako said hugging me. John finally got Ayako to let me go so we could leave.

"Thanks John." I said grinning. He chuckled.

"You're welcome." This time Mai and I both got stuck driving with Ayako.

"So, I have a question." She started as we got on the road.

"What is it?" I asked her warily. I never know with Ayako anymore.

"Do you have anyone in particular that you like?" She asked, winking at me through the rearview mirror.

"No, not particularly." I said feeling relieved. I thought for sure she was going to ask me about earlier. She pouted.

"There has to be someone." I chuckled.

"Sorry, Ayako, but I'm not really interested in having a relationship with someone right now; especially not when Mai is having her own difficulties with Naru." Mai blushed.

"Aki!" Ayako snickered.

"That's true."

"You guys," Mai whined. "Stop it!"

"It's okay Mai, he's just very dense when it comes to other's feelings." I said grinning at her. She sighed.

"Look here, you! Stop teasing me!"

"Oops, she got mad..." Ayako said chuckling.

"I'm sorry Mai." I was sincere about it. "I didn't mean to make you mad." She smiled.

"It's okay, Aki. You're forgiven."

"Hey, what about me?" Ayako asked wide-eyed.

"What about you?" Mai asked indifferently. I laughed at the look on Ayako's face. Mai cracked up laughing. "I'm just kidding Ayako, you're forgiven too." Ayako looked away with a scowl on her face.

"You two are so childish." Hark who's talking, Ayako. I would've said it out loud but that would put Ayako in a bad mood for the rest of the day and I didn't want that. Mai and I shared a look and quietly snickered as Ayako started grumbling to herself. When we all arrived at the police station, Mai and I were still giggling and Ayako was still grumbling to herself.

"What's up with her?" Monk asked as Ayako pushed her way past him. I grinned.

"Mai and I were just teasing her a little, weren't we Mai?" Mai just giggled. Naru gave her a weird look. Hm? Is he finally noticing how cute she is?

"What are you three just standing around for? Let's go," Of course not. I thought sighing as he turned around and followed the others into the police station.

"I thought he was really," Monk said shaking his head.

"Believe me, Monk, I thought so too,"

"Huh?" Mai asked confused.

"Don't worry about it, little missy." Monk said patting her on the head.

"Let's get in there before Naru has a conniption." I muttered as he glared at us from inside the glass doors.

"I sense a dark aura coming from him." Monk said teasingly. I couldn't help but laugh.

"M-Monk s-stop it! My sides are killing me." I held my sides because they really were hurting. He grinned.

"Sorry, Sorry," Naru sighed for the millionth time this morning as we finally got inside. Naru and Lin went up to the front desk.

"We're here to see Detective Fujiwara."

"Ah, yes, he's waiting in the first room on the left." Naru nodded and we all followed him into the room.

"I'm glad you could all make it." Surprisingly, Yasu was already in there having some tea.

"When did you get here, Yasu?" Mai asked him curiously.

"Twenty minutes ago. I found some more things on Ishida-san that I wanted to discuss with Detective Fujiwara and everyone else." He said seriously. We all took a seat and introduced ourselves before Lin gave the papers to Detective Fujiwara.

"These are," Detective Fujiwara said in shock. "Where did you find these?"

"We found them at a park not too far from the school." Naru answered easily. I guess if he told Detective Fujiwara that Shichirou told me about those papers then the detective would take this as a joke. "We were taking a break there and spotted the manila envelope they were in."

"Do you still have that envelope?"

"Yes, it's right here." Lin handed Detective Fujiwara the envelope.

"Good, I'm going to need all of your fingerprints so that when we scan this for fingerprints, yours won't get mixed in." We all nodded our consent. "Good, now then, tell me how this all began." So Naru started with how Ichirou-san contacted him and going over what we did up until the point where the student had died. This is where Detective Fujiwara interrupted him. "So you're telling me, you, Miss Haru, and Miss Taniyama went into the gym and found the student hanging from the raptures?"

"Yes sir."

"Okay, what did you do after seeing the body?" Mai looked like she was going to be sick, so I started rubbing her back in hopes to comfort her.

"I told Miss Haru and Mai to go get Ishida-san and Hideyoshi-san and waited outside the gym for them to come back."

"Okay, Miss Haru and Miss Taniyama, tell me what happened when you went to get Ishida-san and Hideyoshi-san." Since I knew Mai wouldn't be able to talk, I started telling him.

"We went to the office and found Ishida-san and Hideyoshi-san in their offices and I called out to them, telling them to hurry to the gym. Hideyoshi-san got on the intercom and dismissed all the students and Ishida-san called the police and then the four of us went back to the gym. Naru showed them what happened and after the police arrived we were questioned and then we were free to go." Detective Fujiwara nodded.

"Thank you for your testimony. Mr. Shibuya, please continue." Naru then told the detective how Ichirou-san still wanted us to continue our investigation after meeting him in person for the first time and how cold he seemed towards the fact that one of his students had just died. Detective Fujiwara lifted his eyebrows at this but didn't say anything. After going over everything that the detective would actually believe, Naru became silent. "Do you still have that video footage of what happened to that student?"

"Yes, we have it in our van."

"Would you mind if I looked at that?"

"No, go ahead." He won't like what he's going to see... that's if he believes it anyways.

"Thank you. Now Mr. Yasuhara, I believe you said you had some information you wanted to share with us? I won't ask how you obtained it." Yasu chuckled.

"That's much appreciated, Detective Fujiwara." You know, now that I think about it, Yasu is a pretty scary guy. If you got on the wrong foot with him, he could dig up some dirt on you and use it against you.


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Alright, as I said before, I did some more digging on Ishida-san. Not only does he do all of the things we discussed before, but he also has an offshore bank account where he's getting money from a third party. I couldn't trace it back to the person because they kept bouncing off the cell phone towers too quickly for me to trace them."

"I hate to admit it, but you're good kid. Our tech guys just figured that out a few hours ago." Detective Fujiwara said impressed. Yasu chuckled.

"Thank you. What I did find out about that third party though is they're a militant group from the United States. I did however manage to get their bank records and it shows they've been buying parts for weapons. Apparently, Ishida-san used to work for a weaponry company before working for the school and had been smuggling parts out of the country and selling them under the company's nose until he was fired for putting graffiti in one of the storage units out there."

"Let me guess, Ichirou-san is somehow involved in this." I said frowning.

"Right, apparently the two had met each other before they both worked at the school. Ishida-san had been letting Ichirou-san practice dark magic in that storage unit. I went to a ghost hunting website and asked around to see if they had any similar cases to the one you guys had and I got five groups reporting the same things that happened in your case happen to them."

"Well, it looks like Ishida-san and Ichirou-san have been busy." Detective Fujiwara said thoughtfully.

"Did any arson fires happen?" I asked curiously.

"Yes, they said that the people that were involved in the case that were left alone died in house fires. I looked at the police reports and found 5 other victims."

"Do you have those papers with you, Mr. Yasuhara?" Detective Fujiwara asked with wide-eyes. I guess he didn't expect Yasu to find so much information.

"Yes, I have everything right here in this envelope." Yasu said giving the papers to the detective.

"You've been a busy person, Mr. Yasuhara." Yasu chuckled.

"Well, I wanted to tie up the loose ends and I thought I might as well do it properly." Detective Fujiwara chuckled.

"You're a good kid. I appreciate the help you've all given me."

"There's one more thing I wish to share. There's something that's been bothering me about this. Out of the ghost hunting groups I talked to, at least one of their members had gone missing and weren't found until a week later, and by then, Ishida-san and Ichirou-san had moved on." I shivered. My bad feeling from earlier came back to me.

"That is troubling..." Detective Fujiwara said frowning. "Listen, I don't want you all to look into this anymore. It's getting dangerous." Naru's expression didn't change. I have a feeling he still wants to go check out Ishida-san. I agreed with the detective though. This was getting crazy and out of hand, but I couldn't just let the others go, if they go, and I stay behind and worry the whole time. "You're all free to go for now. I'll call if I have any more questions. Oh and if you would, please bring me that tape. If you step out into the lobby, an officer will be there to collect the tape and your fingerprints." We all nodded and left the room. Well that was intense. I thought frowning.

"Are you going to be okay, Mai?" Ayako asked her. Mai looked really pale. She shook her head.

"I don't want to talk about it right now." She said quietly. She was hiding something. She had a dream didn't she? What could it have been about? And when did she have this dream? If she woke up screaming, I would've heard her...

"Lin, go get the tape and take Miss Haru with you." Lin nodded and I followed him. I guess this was where Lin was going to ask me about earlier.

"What's been bothering you, Aki?" How did I know?

"I've been having a really bad feeling that something bad is going to happen Saturday."

"You don't have to go."

"I know, but I would hate to sit at home and worry about you guys until you came back. If I had to do that, it would drive me nuts." Lin chuckled.

"Alright, but if you get too scared, you can wait out in the van." I bit my lower lip but nodded.

"Okay," He smiled and patted me on the head.

"It'll be okay, Aki. I won't let anything happen to you."

"Promise?" I asked him holding out my pinky. He chuckled again and nodded.

"Promise," He said wrapping his pinky around mine. I smiled, feeling a little better. "Now let's get back inside, so we can get you back in time to get your work uniform." I nodded and the two us grabbed the tape and went back inside. "Ne, Lin, I was just thinking, there's no way Shichirou would hang another student. So I wanted to ask him if he knew who did."

"You'll have to discuss this with Naru when we're done here." I nodded. After we got our fingerprints done and whatnot, we all returned to the cars. I decided to ride in the van with Naru and Lin. I had to sit with the equipment but I didn't mind. I ended up falling asleep somehow and when I woke up, we were an hour away from getting into town.

"Lin told me you wanted to speak with Kohaku-san." Naru started once he realized I was awake. I yawned a little.

"Yeah, I wanted to ask him if he saw who killed that student. When you started to tell the detective about it, the thought just occurred to me that there is no way that Shichirou could've done it."

"It'd be too dangerous to go and ask him any time soon. Not with Ichirou-san and Ishida-san suspicious of us." I nodded.

"Somehow, I knew you would say that." I said sighing. Suddenly, the van gave a very frightful lurch. I hugged the back of Naru's seat, so I wouldn't end up crashing into the equipment.

"Lin, what's wrong?" Naru asked sharply.

"I heard something break. I'll pull over."

"Are you okay, Miss Haru?"

"Y-Yeah, I think so." I said, still hugging the seat. Before Lin could slow the van down, there was another loud noise. "W-What was that?"

"The brakes..." Lin muttered. "They're not working."

"Oh no," I nearly groaned.

"What's wrong, Aki?"

"My mom and I got into a car wreck when I was little. Someone tampered with the brakes and we ended up crashing into a street lamp. Ever since then, I've been a little terrified of being in cars. I've been getting better about it, but this is just bringing it all back." I said squeezing my eyes shut as we narrowly missed another car. I'm so glad we weren't on a hill. It was getting scary. My heart was racing and I was having a hard time breathing. The next thing I know, I was being hugged. I opened my eyes to see that it was Naru who was hugging me.

"I'll contact the others and tell them what's going on. Lin, just keep focusing on the road."

"Right,"

"Miss Haru, listen to me, okay?"

"O-Okay," I said hugging him tightly as we went over a bump.

"We won't let anything happen to you, understand?"

"Y-Yes," He patted my head before pulling his phone out. I just listened to his calm, heartbeat and tried to match my breathing to it.

"Monk, our brakes have been tampered with." There was a pause. "We're okay for now. We need to contact the police. Yes, you can speak to her." He handed me the phone.

"H-Hello?"

"How are you doing, Aki?" Monk asked me.

"To be honest, not so good."

"It'll be okay. We're going to get you three out of there. I know you must be scared, but stay strong. Can you do that for me?"

"Y-Yes," I said sniffling.

"Good girl, now give Naru the phone, okay? I'll see you soon."

"Okay," I did as Monk asked and went back to hugging Naru. Sorry, Mai, but I'm freaking out here. Naru talked to Monk a little longer and hung up.

"John is on the phone with the police right now as we speak and they're sending someone our way." He informed us. Good... For the next ten minutes, I focused on calming down. Naru and I didn't talk so Lin could focus on the road. It went on like this for about another twenty minutes before the police showed up. They called Naru's number and soon Naru was talking to them and explaining the situation. After about another twenty minutes or so, we were just getting into town. And when I thought things couldn't get any worse, it did. There was another loud sound and soon Lin couldn't control the van anymore. I couldn't handle it anymore, I screamed. It didn't take long for us to hit something and the next thing I know, the car was stopped, I was in pain, and all I could hear besides Naru's ragged breathing was the police sirens. I passed out.

No One's P.O.V

"Oh my god!" Mai said freaking out as she and the others crowed around the police cruisers.

"Mai, calm down, they're going to be okay." Monk said hugging her, looking worried himself. He told Aki it was going to be okay, but it wasn't okay. What the hell happened? And who did this? The firefighters got Naru, Lin, and Aki out of the mashed up metal that was the van. They're bodies looked horrible, but the paramedics announced that they were still alive. Monk felt a little relieved, but he wasn't going be satisfied until a doctor said they would recover without any complications. Ayako and Masako were in tears and Mai started crying too. John looked really upset. "Let's all follow the ambulances to the hospital." Monk suggested. The others nodded and got into their respective cars, before following the ambulances.

Not too far away from the tragic scene, two figures were standing in an alley way that had a clear view of the accident. "We did it, Ichirou-san."

"Yes, Ishida, we did. Now we won't have to worry about those brats for awhile. We'll pick up and move on before they can trace it back to us." Ichirou said as he and Ishida started towards their car that they parked a few blocks away.

"What about the storage unit?"

"We'll have to wipe it clean."

"I'll take care of it tomorrow."

"It's too bad I couldn't get my hands on one of those girls though. They would've made the perfect sacrifice." Then he got a sudden idea and smirked. "Hey, Ishida, how do you feel about visiting that hospital those kids were taken to later?"

"You want to do that there?"

"Why not? The girl that was pulled out of the wreckage, she won't be able to do much in her condition. Besides, _they_ said the more pain their victims are in the more fun it is for them." Ishida-san nodded.

"Okay, when do you want to go?"

"First we need to go there and check to see what floor she's on and what her room number is. So let's go after the others get to see their friends and ask one of the nurses. Head on over to the hospital."

"Yes, sir." Ishida-san said turning the car around.


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Aki's P.O.V

I groaned as I opened my eyes. Everything hurts... "Aki, are you awake?" I heard Mai's voice ask. I looked around and found her sitting next to me.

"Y-Yeah, how are Lin and Naru?"

"Lin took the brunt of the accident but the doctor said he'll be healed up in three weeks. He ended up with a few broken ribs, a concussion, and one broken leg. Naru also has a few broken ribs, a minor concussion, and a lot of scrapes and bruises. You have similar injuries to Naru." Monk explained. I sighed.

"I don't think I want to be in another car for awhile."

"Naru told us what you told him and Lin." Ayako said sympathetically.

"Yes, you were very brave yesterday." Masako added smiling.

"Yesterday?"

"You've been out since yesterday. Naru woke a few hours ago and Lin is still out." Monk said again.

"Where's John and Yasu?"

"They're talking to Naru. You need to rest, Aki." Mai said gingerly rubbing my left arm. I nodded.

"Sorry,"

"Don't be,"

" _It was Ichirou-san and Ishida-san. I saw them tamper with the vehicle. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before._ "

"Shichirou? It's okay. Ne, I was wondering if you saw who killed that student in the gym." He nodded grimly.

" _Ichirou-san summoned a very bad spirit. I'm sure you saw what kind of spirit it was from those papers. That spirit is the one that possessed the students and is the one who killed that boy. I'm sorry for putting you in danger. I didn't know it would turn out like this._ "

"It's okay, Shichirou. Like you said, you didn't know." I said smiling at him. He smiled back, but then he turned serious all of the sudden.

" _Those two aren't done yet. I heard them planning something in the alley way. I couldn't hear what it was though because I'm starting to fade away._ " I gasped.

"What happens if you don't cross over?"

" _I don't know, but I don't want to find out._ "

"Then cross over Shichirou. Do it while you still can. Don't do this to yourself. Please," He nodded, sadly.

" _I'm glad to have met you Aki. You're the first person who ever understood me._ " I smiled.

"I'm glad to have met you too, and I'm glad that I could help you." He smiled back.

" _I'm going to cross over now. Good-bye Aki._ "

"Good-bye, Shichirou." I could feel tears rolling down my cheeks as a bright light consumed him.

"That was beautiful," Masako said as tears rolled down her cheeks too. I sniffled and nodded.

"What did he say?" John asked curiously.

"He told me Ishida-san and Ichirou-san were the ones who tampered with the van and that they're planning something for tonight. And he apologized for putting me in danger and then he crossed over. He told me that the thing Ichirou-san summoned is what killed that student and is the one that possessed the students in the middle of class."

"I see," Naru said scaring us.

"Naru, what are you doing out of bed? Do the nurses know you're out of bed?" Monk asked scowling at Naru. He was sitting in a wheelchair.

"Yes, they know. They said as long as John and Yasuhara were with me it would be fine."

"We tried to stop him." John said shrugging.

"How are you feeling Miss Haru?"

"I hurt a lot, but I'll live." He nodded.

"I contacted Detective Fujiwara and told him everything that's happened thirty minutes ago. He's on his way over. He requested the police here to guard our rooms and a BOLO has been put out for Ichirou-san and Ishida-san. He said to hang tight until he gets here." I frowned. It's going to take more than that to stop Ichirou-san and Ishida-san, I just know it.

"Has Madoka-san tried to contact you yet, Naru?" Mai asked him. Who's Madoka-san? Naru sighed.

"Yes, I've already talked with her. She said she wouldn't be able to come because of her work."

"Who's that?"

"She's the one who taught Naru everything he knows about ghost hunting, right Naru?" Monk asked him grinning. Naru just sighed.

"Really?" I asked him.

"Yes," He answered. I smiled.

"I'll have to meet her some time."

"Now that I think about it, you and Madoka-san would get along great." Ayako said smirking at Naru. "You both love to mess with Naru over there." I grinned.

"Well it is fun." There was a moment of silence before anyone spoke.

"I'm sure once the doctor checks you out, they'll allow you to go visit Lin, Aki." Monk said thoughtfully after awhile. I nodded, smiling. I guess it was obvious that I was worried about Lin.

"I'll go get the doctor then." Masako said getting up and leaving the room.

"I'll go make some tea." Mai said getting up too. I guess she needed something to keep her mind off things. I don't blame her. The doctor didn't waste any time in coming to check me over.

"You're healing just fine. You are allowed to go visit Mr. Koujo but only if you have at least two escorts." The doctor said sternly. I nodded.

"Thank you, doctor." He nodded smiling before he left the room.

"I'll come with you, Aki." Yasu offered.

"In that case, I'll come too." Ayako said getting up. I smiled and nodded. They helped me into a wheelchair and soon we were going to Lin's room. When I got into the room, I nearly gasped. Lin looked horrible. His broken leg was elevated and he had bruises everywhere. I probably didn't look any better. Yasu pushed me closer to Lin's bed. I carefully took his left hand in mine and squeezed it. I hope he wakes up soon. I'm not sure how long I was sitting there, but it felt way too soon when Yasu and Ayako told me it was time for me to get back to my room. I didn't want to leave Lin. I wanted to stay here all night with him.

"He'll be here tomorrow, Aki. We'll come back tomorrow, so you can visit him again." Ayako said hugging me. I sighed, but nodded.

"Okay," I hope Lin wakes up soon. I thought as the two wheeled me back to my room. Naru was still there and it looked like he was discussing something with John and Monk.

"I just got a call from Detective Fujiwara. He's in town and he's on his way to the hospital as we speak." Naru announced as soon as he noticed us come in.

"That's good," I said yawning. I'm still worn out from everything. I just hope nothing bad happens.

"We'll let you get some rest," Monk said as he and Yasu helped me into bed. "We'll come back by tomorrow, okay?" No, I don't want you to leave... That's what I wanted to tell them, but I was so tired. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

No One's P.O.V

"I'll stay with her." Ayako said once Naru told her and Yasu what he, John, and Monk were talking about. They were planning on keeping at least one of them in Aki's, Lin's, and his own room. Just in case they were attacked by spirits. Plus, he really wanted to protect Aki. Naru told her that she would be okay, but she ended up getting hurt like that.

"No," Monk said loudly. Ayako looked at him shocked as he looked down. "I'll stay with her." Naru could only guess that he told her the same thing.

"No, since Lin is completely out, it would better for you to be in there. John can stay in my room." Monk didn't look happy at all about not staying with Aki, but he understood what he had to do. It was important that Lin and Naru were safe too. Aki didn't look too happy about them leaving either, he noticed. He didn't blame her after everything that's happened so far. He just hoped that they would be enough in case of spiritual attacks and he really hoped that the help Detective Fujiwara has provided will keep them safe from any physical attacks.

Hours later, John, Ayako, and Monk were sitting in their assigned rooms all nodding off. Ayako was trying to keep herself awake but it was nearly impossible. She noticed the guards outside the door had fallen asleep and was annoyed with them. If it weren't for Aki sleeping, she would've gotten up and gave them a piece of her mind. Oh no... She thought as she started to drift off to sleep. She didn't notice two intruders making their way into Aki's room. The guards outside the door were knocked out and lying on the floor. Ichirou cursed silently to himself, not counting on the others staying behind. "Tie up the spare and put a gag over her mouth." He ordered Ishida. "I'll start painting the circle." Ishida grimaced but did as he was told. "Oh and don't forget the blindfold this time." Ichirou pulled the paint out of his duffle bag and got to work. He made sure they were quiet so they wouldn't wake up the girl.

It wasn't until he and Ishida started the chanting, that Ayako woke up. She tried to yell for Aki to wake up, but she finally noticed that she was gagged. Well that was annoying. If she could free her hands, she would've been able to help her. "I see you're finally awake Miss Priestess." Ichirou greeted her, deciding to take the risk of taking her gag off. She scowled at him.

"What are you doing to Aki?"

"Oh this girl? I'm sacrificing her."

"What? That's crazy!"

"Oh but it isn't. You see, if I keep sacrificing others for _them_ , then _they'll_ be happy and do what I ask."

"What is wrong with you?" Ichirou chuckled as he put the gag back on her.

"Nothing at all, my dear." Then he and Ishida got back to chanting. They had to hurry before the girl woke up.

In Lin's room, Monk heard a commotion from down the hall. At their request, the doctors put Lin, Naru, and Aki all on the same floor. He heard a few grunts and some thuds. He didn't want to leave Lin and have Naru get mad at him, but he couldn't ignore this. He got up and when he opened his door, he found the guards at his door asleep. He rolled his eyes. Some guards these guys are. Detective Fujiwara showed up about thirty minutes or so after he, Ayako, and John went to their posts. He was out in his car watching the entrances of the hospital. He had two or three other cop cars out there watching the entrances too. But that didn't mean anything. Monk thought as he woke the two guards. They grunted as they finally woke up. "What seems to be the problem?" One of them asked.

"I just heard two grunts followed by thuds from down the hall."

"Alright," The other said, "We'll go and check it out. Please wait here."

"Will you notify the other two officers as well?" That way John would know that something was up.

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you," Monk said before going back into the room. He waited five minutes before leaving again and slowly going to Naru's room. The guards there were gone and John looked like he was coming out too.

"Shibuya-san wants me to take him to Koujo-san's room."

"Alright, I'll help you out, but then I'm going straight for Aki's room."

"Understood," Naru said from his bed. Monk and John helped him into his chair and then Monk split off from them. When he came to Aki's room, he did not expect to see all six officers knocked out and Ayako tied up. Aki was missing.

"Ayako!" Monk raced over to her and untied her from the chair. There was a blindfold over her eyes. "What happened?" She was crying. He hesitantly hugged her and tried to comfort her.

"It was Ichirou-san and Ishida-san. They were going to sacrifice her to what they call _them_. When those officers came, the two knocked them out and Aki woke up. But Ishida-san knocked her out with chloroform and they kidnapped her." Ayako said through sobs.

"Alright, come on. Everyone is in Lin's room." She nodded and he pulled out his phone to check on Detective Fujiwara.

"This is Fujiwara."

"Yes, this is Takigawa."

"Oh you're from that group in the hospital, right? What's wrong?" Monk wanted to scream at the man but he didn't.

"Ichirou-san and Ishida-san got into Aki's room and kidnapped her when the guards from Lin's room and Naru's room when to go check on her. The other two guards in front of Aki's room were knocked out."

"What? How? We were watching all the entrances and exits!"

"I don't know, but we're all waiting in Lin's room."

"Okay, I'm on my way up. I'll get the other officers to check out Miss Haru's room."'

"Thanks," Then Monk hung up on the guy. He was angry with the detective for not doing his job correctly. Now what were they going to do?

"I've called Yasuhara, Miss Hara, and Mai. They're on their way over now." Naru informed them as the two walked in.

"What happened? Where's Aki?" John asked worriedly.

"Ayako was tied up, blindfolded, and gagged." Monk said angrily. "I called Detective Fujiwara and he didn't even know Ishida-san and Ichirou-san got in. He's on his way up and the other officers are searching Aki's room. Aki was kidnapped, Naru." This was the first time anyone seen any emotion other than anger or annoyance cross Naru's face. He looked upset and sad.

"I'm sorry," Ayako said guiltily.

"No, it's not your fault." Naru said quietly after awhile.

"A-Aki's gone?" Lin's cracked voice sounded in their ears.

"You're awake!" John said in surprise.

"Tell me, is she really gone?" Everyone went quiet and looked away from his eyes. He sighed. Now how was he supposed to fulfill his promise?


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Aki's P.O.V

When I woke up again, I was in a deal of pain. It hurt more than before. What happened again? Oh yeah, Ichirou-san and Ishida-san were in my hospital room. They kidnapped me, didn't they? Where did they take me? I looked around in the dark room and noticed that every little sound echoed. As soon as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I noticed I was in the school gym. I also just happened to notice that I'm all tied up and inside one of those red circles that we found in the papers of Shichirou's. So he plans on sacrificing me to whatever's in this school? Great... I wish Shichirou were here, so he could've gone to Masako and told her where to find me. I hope they find me soon. I heard a hushed conversation going on but I couldn't hear what was being said because everything was echoing off the walls. Honestly, it was starting to give me a headache. I knew that it was Ichirou-san and Ishida-san talking. It sounded like Ishida-san was upset with Ichirou-san and Ichirou-san sounded frustrated. If Ishida-san keeps going like this, Ichirou-san might kill him too. I guess kidnapping me wasn't a part of the plan. I wonder what they're going to do now. It was obvious they were still going to sacrifice me, but what were they going to do after that? I guess they already have a plan of escape. Ichirou-san and Ishida-san came closer to where I was and I could suddenly hear their conversation very clearly. "Sir, this isn't a good idea. What if we get caught? We'll also be charged for kidnapping!" Ishida-san said clearly upset, like I guessed. Ichirou-san snarled at him.

"Ishida! Calm down! We are not going to get caught. Besides, I have a plan if someone tries to interrupt us again." Ichirou-san said with a nasty look on his face. I don't like the sound of that. Funny thing is that neither of them noticed that I was awake yet. After what seemed like ten minutes, Ichirou-san spoke again. "Enough of this, let's get started." Ishida-san nodded, reluctantly.

Back with the others

Back at the hospital, Masako, Yasu, and Mai had just arrived. After hearing the news, Mai and Masako went to tears and Yasu was feeling upset. The room was quiet except for the small sobs from the girls. "Where do you think they took her?" John asked. It was a question they all wanted to know the answer to.

"Well, we have four options: Ishida's house, Ichirou's house, the school, and the storage unit rented by Ishida." Detective Fujiwara said after a long silence. He felt horrible for letting this all happen without his noticing. The men guarding the back entrance were knocked out too. He'd been in the force for 14 years now and he let someone get kidnapped right under his nose. "I'll call in some back up and have them search their homes and the storage unit."

"Then Yasu, Masako, Ayako, and I will go check out the storage unit." Mai said determined. She wanted her friend back safe and unharmed. Naru wanted to object to it, but he knew it was no use.

"Alright, then John and I will go to the school." Monk said feeling a little better knowing he was doing something.

"Hang on, I'll come with you and bring a few men too." Detective Fujiwara said pulling out his phone. "Let's make sure you all have my number and then I'll call in the back up." Everyone nodded to this.

"And, Naru, we'll keep you and Lin updated." Mai said, knowing he'll want updates. Mai was happy to see Lin awake, but he looked really troubled. She wanted to ask him what was wrong, but then she thought, he must be upset about Aki being kidnapped too. He seemed to have got pretty close to Aki and Mai noticed that Naru had too. Mai knew Aki didn't like Naru like that. She noticed that they way they acted towards each other, they were like siblings and she thought it was funny to see Naru react the way he does. She couldn't say the same thing for Masako though, but right now wasn't a good time to think about this. Naru nodded, distractedly.

After everyone had Detective Fujiwara's number, he called the back up and soon they were putting their plan in motion. "Now," the detective started. "If you should come across the two suspects, don't rush in immediately. Find yourself something to defend with." Mai grinned. She had secretly been learning self defense and was pretty good at it. So she was ready, unless they pulled out a gun. Then there was nothing she could do. "I'm going to give you all bullet proof vests in case they pull a gun on you and decide to shoot you. The best method would be to try and talk them down. If that doesn't work, then retreat and get to a place where you can safely call me or the other officers and wait there until they get there. Do you all understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes sir," The group of ghost hunters/exorcists answered. While the detective was busy coordinating with his men, Monk started talking to John.

"Have you figured out how to stop that spirit?"

"Yes, I have it copied down on several pieces of paper. All you have to do is say these words and then throw Holy Water at it. I brought a bottle for each of us."

"Would I be able to do it?" Yasu asked curiously.

"Yes and it's best to do it in groups if you're not spiritually strong." Monk thought that he and John had a better chance at getting rid of this thing better than the girls and Yasu, but he wasn't going to count them out just yet. He knew Mai had surprising talent and Ayako and Masako were not pushovers. He was a little worried for Yasu but he knew the girls wouldn't let anything happen to them. Plus they had the Shinto Charm to protect themselves as well. He was also worried they would run into Ishida-san and Ichirou-san. He hoped Yasu would be enough to at least get them out of there to get to safety and call for help.

"Right, everyone's ready, let's move." Detective Fujiwara announced. The group mentally prepared themselves for what they were about to do as they went their separate ways to look for Aki.

~With Mai's group~

Mai was nervous. She didn't know what they were going to see when they got into the storage space. She hoped they found Aki but she also hoped they didn't have to run into Ishida-san and Ichirou-san. They pulled up to the storage space and had to wait until the police cleared it before they could go in and investigate it. Aki was right. Ichirou-san and Ishida-san covered up what they were doing. "That was clever of them." Yasu said as the police began to dismantle the big wall of sheet metal that covered up the space.

"It's troublesome." Masako said frowning.

"Agreed," Ayako said crossing her arms. Mai had to agree with them, but she was sure Aki would have agreed with Yasu. After the sheet metal was pulled away, the group gasped. There were painted circles everywhere. There were also black candles, a few books about dark magic, and some bowls with what looked like blood, but Mai didn't want to think about that.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Mai muttered before hiking it out of there.

"I'll go with her." Masako said taking off after her.

"I'll call Detective Fujiwara and let him know what's going on." Yasu said pulling out his phone.

"Then I'll call Naru." Ayako said pulling out her phone too.

~With Monk's group~

"I just got a call from Yasuhara-san and Haru-san isn't there." Detective Fujiwara announced as he, Monk, John, and a few officers made their way over to the school. They were speeding about 85 miles with the lights on. So hopefully they'll get there within an hour. Monk was disappointed.

"Then that means Aki is at the school." John said frowning.

"Right, I'll call the other back-ups to meet us at the school." While the detective did that, Monk got lost in worry. He hoped she would be okay by the time they got to her.

"We'll get her back safely." John told him encouragingly with a smile on his face. Monk smiled back.

"You're right. Thanks John,"

"No problem,"

"Okay, I've told everyone where to meet. We're going to speed up now. I hope you have your seatbelts on." The detective announced.

"Yes sir," The other two said making sure their seatbelts were secured.

Aki's P.O.V

As the chanting when on, I started to notice a black swirl and red eyes peering out at me. It was seriously freaking me out. I don't want to know what this thing looks like at full power. I hope the others hurry up and get here. I know they wouldn't just stand around and do nothing. I bet Naru is really worried. I wonder if Lin's woken up yet. I hope so. I'll have to visit him when the others get me out of here. I bet if he were awake now and knew what was going on, he'd be very worried too. I looked around the gym and noticed that the other trapped spirits were looking at the thing in front me with fear. So this is why they were hiding. Those poor spirits... I was starting to feel tired again. What's up with that anyways? I know my body is exhausted from the crash and from moving around when I went to visit Lin but that can't be enough to make me tired, can it? I closed my eyes and fell asleep again.

I ended up waking up again, only this time the black swirl and red eyes now looked like an apparition. This thing was so terrible looking and scary. It looked worse than a demon somehow and the power that was coming off of it scared me even more. I could feel myself literally shaking in fear and it liked that. I could see it on its face. It also sounded like Ichirou-san and Ishida-san were almost finished with their chanting too. I assume that if they finish it, then this thing is going to kill me. I heard something that sounded like doors being forced open. I looked around as much as I could but it was so dark, I couldn't see anything. I did hear someone yell, "Freeze! This is the police! Stop what you're doing and get down on your knees and put your hands behind your head!" It sounded like Detective Fujiwara. I would relax but that thing was still staring at me and it looked annoyed that Ichirou-san and Ishida-san was interrupted. Ichirou-san and Ishida-san however did not listen to the detective. I heard a gunshot and Ichirou-san yelled out in pain. Ha! That's what you get!

Then I heard John and Monk starting to chant something but instead of the thing getting stronger it was getting weaker and it was getting weak really fast. Ishida-san and Ichirou-san were caught quickly and handcuffed and the thing was finally gone. Monk untied me and pulled me into a hug and I just started crying again as I hugged him back. "I was so worried." He said hugging me tighter.

"M-Monk,"

"It's okay, it's over now." John said coming up to us and patting my head. I let go of Monk and hugged John too. He looked surprised but chuckled and hugged me back.

"We're glad you're okay," Monk said looking relieved. My ribs were killing me though.

"Um, I'd hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we need to get Miss Haru back to the hospital so she can get checked out." Detective Fujiwara said walking up to us. We nodded and Monk gave me a piggyback ride to the car. I noticed John pulling out his phone. I guess he was calling the others and letting them know that I was safe now. I'm safe now. I thought as I rested my head on Monk's shoulder in the backseat. I was tired.

One Month Later...

I'm finally out of the hospital and I start school tomorrow. Mai keeps fussing over me like I can't do anything by myself. I don't mind that she wants to help me but it's starting to get a little annoying. But I won't tell her that because I don't want to hurt her feelings. I go to the office during the day while Mai is at school and talk to Lin and sometimes Naru when he's not too busy. Michiru, Keiko, Mai, and I are going to be telling ghost stories again. And as promised, I messaged Yasu the time and place and he said he'd be there. I can't wait to go back to school. I honestly miss it. Plus I get to start my job tomorrow too. The doctor told me to get as much rest as I could for a whole week. So I stayed home from school and work. And boy was I bored. I still think about Shichirou and the hard life he lived and then I compared it to mine. He definitely had it harder than me. He didn't have anyone who liked him for who he was. If I had met him when he was still alive, we would've been great friends. I hope that if there is another person like me out in the world that I get to meet them before something bad happens to them.

FIN


End file.
